The Rails to Redemption
by Chase The Ferroequinologist
Summary: Toby the Tram Engine comes from a line shut down by buses and lorries. Henry the Green Engine is inherently mechanically flawed and can't do his jobs the way he needs to. Follow them both in this "Adventure Begins"-styled adaptation of the sixth and seventh books of the Railway Series on their quest for redemption and to prove that they are really useful after all.
1. North of the Island

It was a quiet morning in East Anglia. Birds chirped, the wind rustled through the trees, and the sun was just beginning to climb over the horizon. As the sky began to change its tint from the pink of the early morning to the blue of the late, two men opened the doors of a small wooden shed at the end of a railway line, stepping inside before a bell rang from within. Suddenly, steam erupted from inside the sheds, and a little wooden tram engine slowly puffed out of the sheds, taking a look at the early morning sky. He took a deep breath before sighing happily at the scenery around him and looking up at the sky.

"Good morning!" He called loudly, causing the birds to fly away from the trees with a start as the tram engine puffed towards a siding, where two pieces of rolling stock had just been woken up.

"Easy, Toby! You don't want to wake the whole village up!" The luggage van scolded the tram engine as he backed down onto them. The carriage in front of her chuckled.

"Toby's simply as excited to start work as we are, Elsie, dear." Elsie snorted.

"It's still too early to be loud…" She grumbled as Henrietta was coupled up to Toby. The tram engine laughed.

"Henrietta's right, Elsie, you need to smile! It's a new day after all, and a new day means new passengers." Elsie rolled her eyes.

"New passengers for the _buses to steal…_ " Henrietta cut her off to try and appease Toby's worried expression.

"None of that, now. Now come on, chop chop! We've passengers to pick up!" Henrietta smiled at Toby. The tram engine rang his bell, soon enough smiling again himself, and headed off along his line, his train in tow.

 _North of the Island, there lives a dear old train,_

 _A little tram engine, Toby is his name._

 _He's quaint and old fashioned, but careful and wise._

 _His coach is Henrietta and she's seen better days._

Toby rolled along the line, picking up passengers at every station along his route. Toby passed by farms and fields, with his friends saying hello to him at every stop.

"Good morning, Toby! Henrietta! Elsie!" One of the farmers called from his tractor, as he was plowing a field. Toby happily rang his bell back.

"Good morning, Farmer Collins!" Henrietta and Elsie called. Along the country road alongside the line, the trio passed a familiar road sign.

"Oh, you know what that means! We're almost at the top station; there will be tons of passengers there!" Henrietta tittered happily. Elsie raised an eyebrow.

"If _Graham_ doesn't get there first…" She muttered. Toby frowned.

"Well, then…I'll beat him! I'm faster than a newfangled bus any day!" The tram engine rang his bell and sped up. Henrietta glared sharply at Elsie.

"You know how insecure he gets about that!" She hissed. Elsie sighed.

"You think I'm not?" Henrietta frowned, but saw where the luggage van was coming from and they simply continued on their way.

 _Toby, oh Toby,_

 _What will become of you?_

 _The world's much nicer whenever we see you._

As Toby made his stops closer and closer to the top station, fewer and fewer people began to board his train. This clearly made the tram engine upset, and Henrietta tried to keep up a brave face for him, but it did no good.

 _Toby, dear Toby,_

 _There's still lots that you can do_

 _Oldies but Goldies, we still care about you._

Toby finally approached the top station, seeing a connecting train from the main line waiting in the platform. He smiled hopefully at first, but then frowned when he saw a familiar face in the car park, sneering.

 _Oldies but Goldies, we still care for you._

Toby rolled his eyes as he rolled to a stop in the platform, allowing his passengers to disembark. While some passengers boarded Henrietta to go back up the line again, a vast majority did not, instead approaching a green bus who smirked confidently from alongside the platform.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't me auld pal, Toby." The bus gloated. Toby rolled his eyes.

"Graham." He grunted. Henrietta glared at the bus, while Elsie snarled threateningly. Graham mockingly raised an eyebrow.

"Why de long face, Toby? Ah wait, sorry, me mistake, you're jist ganky! 'a! For rayle though, what's buggin' yer?" Before Toby could respond, Elsie jumped in.

"Why don't you leave us alone, you Irish brute? You've already taken all our passengers, what more do you want?" Graham's smile dropped as his eyes drifted to the platform.

"Not al' av dem…" He growled, watching the last two people board Toby's rather light train. His eyes snapped back to Toby, in a deadly glare.

"Yer canny 'owl oyt forever. Us buses an' lorries are gonna run dis place soon enoof, an' den yisser rails 'ill be ripped up loike they should've been years ago." Elsie jumped in again.

"If _anything_ should have happened a long time ago, it's you having your tires removed and made into an ice cream stand!" Toby and Henrietta snorted with laughter as Graham's face turned red with anger. The bus glared at Elsie.

"Yer laugh nigh, but yer won't be splitting' yer sides whaen yer end up in a scrapyard…" Graham honked his horn and drove away, leaving the station quiet again. Elsie stopped glaring at Graham once he left, and sighed.

"He's right; we can't hold out forever. Soon enough, we won't have _any_ passengers to take; we've so little as it is." Toby frowned, but Henrietta very quickly jumped in.

"As long as the people of the valley need us, Elsie, we will be useful." Elsie snorted. Toby smiled nervously.

"Besides, even if we have to move railways, the three of us stick together no matter what! I know I'll be happy no matter where I go, as long as it's with you two!" Henrietta smiled warmly at this, but Elsie remained pessimistic.

"Even in a scrapyard?" Toby faltered in his speech, and could only remain silent as he started on his way back up the valley, pulling a nervous Henrietta and an upset Elsie behind him.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the Island of Sodor, a tank engine was making his way up his branch line. But you already know who he is, don't you?

"Thomas, slow _down!_ " Annie shouted as Thomas rocketed along the rails, dragging his coaches behind him.

"You're going to have an _accident_!" Clarabel added.

"Hey, Thomas!" Terence the Tractor called from his field. Thomas whistled as he sped by.

"Sorry, Annie and Clarabel, but you know why I have to get there quickly today!" Annie snorted.

"You'll be getting there anyway, Thomas. I agree it's good news, but Glynn's been waiting on that siding for a long time…"

"Twenty minutes more won't change the fact that the news is good, Thomas!" Clarabel added sympathetically. Thomas sighed and began to slow down, right as he reached the section where the rails ran alongside the road for a short distance. However, a familiar horn rang out that made Thomas smirk and his coaches groan.

"Thomas, stop thinking what you're thinking right now!" Annie pleaded, but Thomas didn't pay attention to her. Bertie the Bus sped alongside him before grinning.

"Morning, Thomas! Fancy a race?" Thomas was about to reply before Clarabel quickly jumped in.

"Thomas, if you race Bertie, we'll tell Glynn the good news by ourselves and you won't get to!"

"What? Oh, come on, don't be like that!" Thomas begged, but Annie simply pouted.

"No buts, Thomas! I'm not in the _mood_ to be shaken about like a truck today, thank you very much!" Thomas sighed.

"Sorry, Bertie, but I can't today. I have important news that I have to tell Glynn!" Bertie frowned briefly, before smiling again.

"Alright then, suit yourself. I'm counting this as a victory though!" The bus honked his horn as he sped away down the lane. Thomas chuckled and continued along his way towards Ffarquhar station.

* * *

Thomas pulled into the platform smoothly, but was very quickly getting anxious.

"Uncouple me, please! I have to go see Glynn!" He begged a nearby shunter.

"Alright, Thomas, don't get too antsy now!" The shunter chuckled, and uncoupled Thomas from Annie. The tank engine quickly scampered towards a vegetation-covered siding adjacent to the platform, where an old, rusty, overgrown steam engine was fast asleep.

"Glynn…Glynn…Glynn!" Thomas hissed, and the old engine snorted awake.

"Eh? What is it, Thomas?" He yawned. Thomas grinned from buffer to buffer.

"I have good news!"

"Well, don't keep me waiting then! Are you getting a new coat of paint? Off working on the main line again? Maybe-"

"The Fat Controller is reopening the line to the quarry! I don't have enough time to run it myself, so I _think_ the Fat Controller is going to have someone else do it…"

"And who would that be, Thomas?" Glynn raised an eyebrow.

" _You_! You ran the line to the quarry back in the day just fine, and you and I both know that you only need to have your pipes repaired and all the rust scraped off and you'll be back at work as good as new!" Glynn chuckled nervously as Thomas gushed with excitement.

"Well, Thomas, I appreciate the thought, but I think I'm far too weak to manage the quarry nowadays. I mean, look at me! I haven't run in years, I could barely move coaches when I last worked…I don't think Mr.-gah, sorry, _Sir_ Topham Hatt has any use for me. I'm just not useful anymore." Glynn looked down at his buffers in sadness. Thomas smiled determinedly.

"Of course you're useful, Glynn! You taught me almost everything I know about running a branch line! Where to put the trucks, which sidings to use at the top station…you could run this line by yourself if you had to!"

"In theory, Thomas, but I'm just part of the scenery now." Thomas faltered at Glynn's continued sadness. Suddenly, a voice rang from the station platform.

"Thomas, come on!"

"We'll be late if you don't come along now!"

"Coming!" Thomas slowly began to reverse away from Glynn.

"You'll see, Glynn! You'll be back at work before you know it, and then you'll be really useful again!" Glynn smiled until Thomas was out of view, falling into a frown again. Thomas backed down onto his coaches, who eagerly awaited his arrival.

"Well?" Clarabel asked.

"What'd he say?" Thomas sighed.

"He's not happy…" Annie and Clarabel only looked to Thomas out of concern as the train left the station, leaving Glynn on his siding.

* * *

Thomas arrived at Elsbridge, still deep in thought, when he heard a familiar voice.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Thomas' gaze drifted to Edward, waiting in the other platform with a local train.

"Oh, hello, Edward. I was just down to see Glynn." The blue engine smiled, but was clearly rather uncomfortable.

"Ah, yes. How is he?"

"He's alright, but he didn't take the news the way I wanted him to…"

"News?" Edward raised an eyebrow.

"Well, the Fat Controller is reopening the line to the quarry, and I thought it would make the most sense for Glynn to run it, since I don't have the time and he only needs a bit of repair to be good as new! He seemed… _sad_ when I told him and said that he just wasn't useful anymore no matter what." Thomas sighed.

"Well, Thomas, I don't think the Fat Controller is planning for anything of the sort…" Edward began, causing Thomas to frown.

"…However, that doesn't mean that he wouldn't. Maybe try talking to him about it?" Thomas thought for a moment, before smiling.

"Yes…of _course!_ Thank you, Edward! I'll talk to him the next time I see him!" Edward chuckled.

"Well, you better do it soon then; he leaves for his well-deserved holiday soon." Suddenly, a deep whistle rang out, and a familiar grumbling entered the air as a goods train clanked past.

"A goods train! A _goods_ train! Oh, the shame of it! The _shame_ of it!" Gordon puffed past with a long slow goods train, much to Thomas and Edward's surprise and amusement.

"Good morning, Gordon!" Thomas called cheekily.

"What could be good about a morning where I'm _forced_ to deal with dirty trucks!" He grunted in reply. Edward raised an eyebrow.

"Why _are_ you pulling a goods train, Gordon?" The big engine snorted indignantly.

"It's Henry's; his fire won't light again…it's laziness if you ask me!" Edward frowned as Gordon's train began to crawl out of sight.

"You know he can't help it, Gordon!"

"Can he, though? I say it's pretty suspicious that whenever he has a big train to pull, he manages to feel sick _every single time_!" Thomas and Edward could only shoot each other a worried glance as Gordon's goods train disappeared from sight.

* * *

The Fat Controller was just leaving his office to visit Tidmouth Sheds on important business when the stationmaster ran up to his car.

"Sir, the telephone rang for you."

"Tell them it can wait; I have things I need to attend to."

"It's your wife, sir."

"…"

* * *

"Yes, hello, dear." The Fat Controller had returned to his office and was now on the phone with his wife.

"I just wanted to make sure that you had all the logistics for our holiday in order, Topham, dear. Now, tell me, what is our plan for the first day?" Lady Hatt held the phone between her head and shoulders as she packed away clothes in her suitcase.

"…Jane, honey, can't this wait? I have important business-"

"It's in two weeks! I just want to make sure we don't have a repeat of last time, where you simply took us to a bunch of wine and cheese tastings! This has to be fun for the _grandchildren,_ Topham, so I _will_ be holding you accountable!" The Fat Controller winced and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Jane, my dear, I promise that I have planned a spectacular holiday for us in East Anglia." Lady Hatt smiled wryly on the other end.

"I should hope you have…you know I'm only hard on you because I love you, Topham."

"I love you too. I have to go now, goodbye, honey."

"Goodbye." The Fat Controller hung up the phone, before smiling to himself, and leaving his office behind to head to Tidmouth Sheds.

* * *

Henry the Green Engine sat in the sheds, feeling miserable. No matter how his driver and fireman built his fire up, his small firebox prevented him from getting any steam, and he was firmly stuck. James grumbled furiously nearby as his crew built up _his_ fire.

"Henry, I've started pulling this stopping train so much that the passengers recognize me more than you! Surely, you can't _still_ feel ill!" Henry groaned as his crew attempted to light his fire again.

"I'm not doing it on purpose! Sometimes I just wake up with no strength at all-"  
"Did you have any to begin with?" James snarked, causing Henry to turn red in the face.

"You and Gordon just don't understand! Nobody understands! I suffer dreadfully, and no one cares!"

" _Great,_ back on _this_ again…" James muttered.

"It's the truth!" Henry snapped.

"Henry, the only truth I can see is that _you_ don't work hard enough!" The green engine remained speechless as James clanked away from the sheds, just as the Fat Controller pulled up in his car. He stepped out and walked towards the sheds.

"Alright, driver, what's the problem today?" He sighed as he walked towards the driver and fireman, who had climbed down from Henry's cab and were now standing alongside his running board.

"His fire won't light again, sir."

"Well, yes, I've heard that, but _why?_ " His driver and fireman gave each other a nervous glance before the fireman finally spoke up.

"It's his firebox, sir. He can't build up a flame with this coal because he has a small firebox for an engine of his size." The Fat Controller raised an eyebrow and looked to Henry, who cringed.

"I'm sorry, sir." He sighed. The Fat Controller's expression softened as he walked towards Henry.

"I know it's nothing you're doing on purpose, Henry; you can't help it." Henry smiled sadly, but the Fat Controller continued.

"However, the board has not been particularly… _pleased_ with your performance lately. We've given you new parts, and a new coat of paint-"

"Please, never paint me blue again, sir. While that livery is nice for some engines, my green suits me far better." Henry jumped in, before wincing at the Fat Controller's raised eyebrow and quieting down.

"I think, if your condition does not begin to improve, that we…" He hesitated, noticing the worried expression on the green engine's face and trying to find the most tactful way to word his statement.

"We may have to get another engine instead of you." Henry's eyes widened as he heard his driver whoop from the cab.

" _Finally!_ We've got a fire!" He cheered. The Fat Controller looked back.

"Glad that solved itself!" He called. He then redirected his gaze to Henry.

"See you at the station, Henry. Goodbye, all!" He called to the crew, before entering his car again and driving away. As Henry finally managed to leave Tidmouth Sheds, he could only wallow in his own misery.

"I suffer dreadfully…and I wish I didn't have to." He muttered under his breath as he limped towards the big station.

* * *

Another project begins! I've been kind of hush-hush about the elements of this adaptation of _Henry the Green Engine_ and _Toby the Tram Engine,_ but I'm more than excited to finally introduce it to everyone! Now, let's discuss the differences in these stories from the original books:

 **Order of Events:** Much like _Troublesome Engines_ before it, the order of the books' events is different, as they will be taking place alongside each other instead of one after the other (as seen by the Fat Controller planning his holiday to East Anglia before visiting Henry about his firebox) to allow for a more coherent narrative. If you liked this in _Troublesome Engines,_ you'll probably like it here.'

 **The Presence of New Characters:** Unlike _Troublesome Engines,_ Glynn, Judy, and Jerome will have a presence in this special, Glynn more so than the other two, as there are actual roles for them this time. However, these three aren't the only characters who make appearances here who didn't before: obscure _RWS_ characters Elsie the Luggage Van and Graham the Green Bus (actually getting a name instead of just "The Green Bus"), who appear on Toby's old line to bolster the tram engine's backstory. They will get more development later.

 **Toby's livery pre-Sodor:** Toby's livery prior to Sodor is pretty much his livery now minus his number with more faded wood and black sideplates with LNER lettering instead of grey ones without it. Not much of a change in appearance so I didn't really feel the need to note it.

Excited for this story to continue, and to see the Fat Controller's solution to Henry's problems in the next chapter: "Welsh Coal"!


	2. Welsh Coal

Henry solemnly clanked into the platform, where Percy had shunted his coaches for him. The little green engine waited in the platform adjacent to Henry's, smiling as he approached.

"Glad to see you up and about, Henry!" He greeted. Henry snorted.

"In the loosest sense of the phrase, Percy. I should have been 'up and about' on my morning goods train a few hours ago…now I'm stuck on the local because I can't build up a fire. It's…"

"Disgraceful, disgusting, despicable?" Percy finished cheekily. Before Henry could retort, he heard a familiar voice clear his throat.

"Ahem." Henry and Percy both looked to the Fat Controller, who was standing on the platform near Henry's cab, having taken off his hat and coat and putting on overalls instead. Henry raised an eyebrow while Percy stifled laughter.

"Sir?"

"I'll be riding in your cab today, Henry. We're going to get to the bottom of your issues today, so we can actually solve them permanently!" He stepped into the cab as the driver and fireman made room for him. Percy chuckled to himself before giving Henry a genuine smile.

"Shake a wheel, Henry!" He whistled and rolled away to shunt more trucks. Henry smiled to himself, but his smile quickly fell once the guard's whistle blew. He took a deep, nervous breath.

"Alright…here we go." He whistled and began to try and leave the station. However, he couldn't go very fast, and the coaches weighed him back. Henry huffed, trying to catch his breath, and finally managed to struggle out of the platform onto the main line. Percy watched from the yards, concerned.

* * *

Henry rumbled along the main line, trying to build up speed but never really getting beyond a crawl. His face was red from all his effort, but it wasn't amounting to much. In the cab, the fireman was trying his best to strengthen Henry's fire, but to no avail. He had just added another lump of coal to the fire, but it didn't increase the size of the flame. He groaned in frustration.

"Is something wrong, fireman?" The Fat Controller asked, brushing coal dust off his overalls. The fireman sighed.

"Henry's a bad steamer. I build up his fire, but it just doesn't make enough heat." The Fat Controller frowned.

"Hmm." Henry rumbled onwards, trying his best to speed up.

"Come on, come on, come… _on_!" He grunted, breathing hard. However, as Henry approached Edward's station, he suddenly began to gasp.

"I can't go on! I _can't_ go on!" Henry coughed furiously as he managed to drag his coaches into the platform. Finally, he came to a loud, clanking stop, coughing furiously. The driver looked at one of the gauges in the cab before frowning.

"No way he has enough steam to make it up the hill…we need another engine to take over." Henry groaned in embarrassment.

* * *

Henry had limped onto a siding out of the way as Edward took charge of the train. The blue engine gave Henry a sympathetic glance before whistling and puffing away. As Edward and the train disappeared from sight, the Fat Controller and the crew stood nearby Henry, discussing his issues.

"What do you think the problem is, fireman?" The Fat Controller asked. The fireman thought for a moment before continuing.

"Excuse me, sir, but the fact is the coal is wrong. We've had a poor lot lately, and today's it's worse. The other engines can manage because they had big fireboxes. Henry's is small; it can't make the heat." Henry frowned in shame. The Fat Controller, however, appeared deep in thought.

"Well, that _is_ a problem. The question is…how can we solve it?" The three men pondered for a moment, before the fireman cleared his throat.

"Well, sir, maybe, if you'd allow it, sir, we could try giving Henry…Welsh coal?" The Fat Controller's eyes widened.

" _Welsh coal?_ Money doesn't grow on trees; the board would lose their minds! I-" The Fat Controller looked to Henry, whose face was frozen in a perpetual miserable pout. He thought for a moment.

"It _is_ expensive…but Henry must have a fair chance." Henry's eyes widened with surprise.

"Sir?" The Fat Controller smiled.

"Henry, I'll send in an order for Welsh coal as soon as I've returned to my office; you'll be really useful yet!" Henry grinned in surprise.

"Yes, sir! Thank you, sir! I won't let you down, sir!"

* * *

The process of ordering the Welsh coal was long and arduous, and the Fat Controller frequently found himself in meetings with the railway board to try and convince them to allow the order. As a result of this, the engines did not see a lot of him in this time, and couldn't really get in contact with him.

"Is the Fat Controller here?" Thomas asked the Stationmaster eagerly as he pulled into Knapford. The stationmaster shook his head.

"He's in a meeting." Thomas frowned as the Stationmaster walked away.

"Don't worry, Thomas. I'm sure you'll find time to talk to him about Glynn before he goes on holiday." Annie soothed, but Thomas remained nervous.

* * *

Finally, one morning, Henry was woken up by the sound of James' whistle. His eyes popped open as the red engine arrived with a long train of coal trucks.

"It's here! The Fat Controller got it after all!" The driver gasped. James snorted.

"You better appreciate-"

"-what the Fat Controller went through to get it, I know!" Henry interrupted, not keeping his eyes off the coal trucks. James' eyes narrowed, offended.

"No one cares about what _I_ had to do! I had to go to the Mainland at four in the morning to get this stuff, and I don't get as much as a 'thank you'! Hmph!" Percy, who was shunting trucks nearby, giggled.

"No rest for the hard worked, James!" James frowned.

* * *

Henry's crew carefully built up his fire.

"Bigger lumps on the outside, smaller lumps over the flame!" The driver pointed out as the fireman carefully placed another lump in the firebox from the shovel. The other man snorted.

"Don't tell me how to do my job." Henry wasn't used to the structure, and felt rather uncomfortable.

"You're going to spoil my fire!" He complained, but the fireman chuckled.

"No worries, old boy. Once we're started, we'll have a _roaring_ fire!" This made Henry smile. The warmth spread through his firebox as the flame grew, and soon enough the green engine was moving out of the sheds. The driver stuck his head out of the cab.

"Now we'll show 'em, Henry!" Henry grinned determinedly.

"Yes, we shall!"

* * *

Henry backed down onto the coaches, feeling incredibly comfortable. The water was boiling so nicely that he had to let off steam.

"Ah…" He sighed happily as the steam escaped.

"Feeling good then, Henry?" Henry jumped as the Fat Controller walked up.

"Gah! I feel fine, sir!" The Fat Controller chuckled.

"Excellent. How's the fire, driver?" The driver stepped down from the cab onto the platform, the fireman following behind.

"Never better, sir! He's plenty of steam, and I have a feeling a smooth run is ahead of us." Henry smiled at the Fat Controller.

"Thank you so much for giving me a second chance, sir!" The Fat Controller smiled back.

"I'm glad I was here to see it; I was worried that the shipment wouldn't be ready until after I had left for my holiday! Good luck, Henry. No record breaking!" As Henry began to get ready to leave, the Fat Controller walked back towards the cab.

"Don't push him too hard." He discretely whispered to the driver, who chuckled in response.

"Henry won't _need_ pushing, sir. More likely we'll have to hold him back!" The Fat Controller laughed.

"Splendid! I must be off to make sure the last of my things are packed for my holiday, but I expect to hear news of a splendid run!" The driver grinned.

"That you shall, sir!" As the Fat Controller walked away, Henry looked excitedly out onto the main line ahead of him. As the last door banged on the coaches, Percy, plus Judy and Jerome the Breakdown Train who were waiting on their siding for any emergencies, watched with anticipation. The guard's whistle blew, and Henry began to pull out of the station. To Henry's surprise, it was all seeming easy!

"I feel so well! I feel so well!" He chanted as he pulled his train out onto the junction and towards the Main Line.

* * *

Gordon thundered along the Main Line with the express, just having left the big station a little while before Henry. He had built up speed and was just beginning to enjoy himself, when…

"Make way!" Gordon was startled by a loud whistle as Henry rocketed past on another line, much faster than Gordon. The passengers ooh-ed and ah-ed from inside the coaches, and peered out their windows to watch Henry rocket past. Gordon jolted with surprise.

"Wh- _Henry!?_ " Henry sped along the Main Line, laughing as fields and roads seemed to fly by.

"I've never felt so good in my _life!_ " He whooped and cheered. His driver chuckled and began to slow Henry down. The green engine pouted as his speed decreased.

"Can't we go faster?" He asked. The driver poked his head out of the cab.

"Steady, Henry! There's plenty of time! Besides, we're almost at our first stop!" Elsbridge station came into view, and Henry slowly began to brake to a stop. As he drew to a halt, he whistled loudly at his arrival.

"We're here!" He announced. Gordon had finally managed to catch up, and managed to hear Henry's whistle as he rumbled by on the outside line. He winced at the noise.

"In a _station_? Harrumph!" Henry didn't take any notice of Gordon, who was out of sight just as quickly as he had appeared. The passengers disembarked from Henry's train as his driver pat his side from inside the cab.

"Good job, old boy." The green engine beamed. Suddenly, he heard a whistle from down the line, and Thomas pulled into Elsbridge.

"Henry? You're…early?" The tank engine was bewildered. Henry was about to respond, but then he got an idea and smirked.

"Where have _you_ been, lazybones?" Thomas spluttered in shock, trying to respond.

"Oh, never mind, I can't wait for dawdling tank engines like you." The guard's whistle blew and Henry began to pull out of the station.

"Goodbye!" He called. As Henry and his coaches disappeared from sight, Thomas finally managed to find words.

"Well…have you ever seen anything like it?" He remarked to his coaches.

"No indeed." Annie replied.

"I never have." Clarabel added, as they watched Henry leave the station triumphantly.

* * *

Toby, Henrietta, and Elsie arrived at the top station of their line for the last train of the day. Toby drew to a stop in the platform and rang his bell.

"We're here!" He called. A single passenger walked out of Henrietta. Toby gazed across the yard, and watched passengers disembarking from a stuffed-to-the-brim Graham, who sneered at them from the bus stop. Elsie groaned.

"It's unfair!" Henrietta sighed.

"It's life, Elsie." The luggage van glared.

"I remember the days when you used to be full, and we would have _nine_ trucks behind us! Now, we get _one_ passenger on our last train of the day? It's _unbelievable_!" Henrietta grimaced.

"It's just the state of the world, dear." Elsie harrumphed and fell silent. Toby looked back.

"Cheer up, Elsie. We'll have a nice peaceful journey back up the line to our shed, so that should be nice!" Elsie's scowl softened before she shot a glance at Graham.

"Well, anywhere away from _him_ is bound to be peaceful!" All three of them laughed as Toby brought the trio towards a siding with a water tower, Elsie being closest to the buffers. As Toby began to settle down for a nice long drink to get him home, Graham glared at them from across the yard. He saw Elsie, actually managing to relax, and heard her words from several weeks earlier in his head.

 _"If anything should have happened a long time ago, it's you having your tires removed and made into an ice cream stand!"_ A wide smirk came across Graham's face, and he began to whistle innocently as he began to three-point-turn in the car park to get himself home. Neither Toby, Henrietta, nor Elsie noticed how close Graham was getting to their siding.

"Heheheh…" The bus chuckled under his breath. Suddenly, before anyone could realize what was happening, Graham reversed too far and rammed straight into Elsie, knocking her off the rails.

"OUCH!" Elsie's rear wheels scraped the ballast, causing Toby and Henrietta to gasp with surprise. Graham, of course, pretended to be surprised as well. Elsie turned red-in-the-face with anger.

"Watch where you're _going,_ you clumsy _twit!_ " She snapped. Graham gave a sheepish grin.

"Whoops! Guess Oi didn't see yer dare! Oi'm ever so sorry!" Toby glared at Graham.

"You did that on purpose!" He growled. The bus simply continued to feign innocence.

"Naw idea waaat you're blatherin' aboyt! if yer canny git 'er back on de rails, Oi tink it might be a gran' idea ter a go 'er into an 'ice cream stan'! Toodle-loo!" Graham cackled as he drove out of the car park, leaving Toby glaring after him. Henrietta looked back at Elsie.

"Are you alright, Elsie?" The luggage van groaned.

"Oh, I'm absolutely _peachy!_ " She snapped. Toby's driver got down to inspect.

"You've knocked one of your wheels loose…we'll have to head home slowly and try to repair you when we're there." Elsie fumed as Toby rolled to a grab the crane, which was thankfully nearby.

"That _idiot bus!_ What was he playing at?" Henrietta sighed.

"He's just a nasty sort, dear." Toby soon enough returned with the crane and Elsie was craned back onto the rails. She hobbled and rattled on her chassis as Toby began to gently pull the train home.

"When I get my buffers on that bus, I swear-" Elsie began. Henrietta cleared her throat.

"We'll deal with him later. For now, we just need to get home." She noticed that Toby remained silent.

"Toby? Are you alright?" Toby scowled from the front of the train.

"I'm fine. Just…tired, that's all." Henrietta could only look on sympathetically as the trio began to head slowly home as day turned to night.

* * *

Henry has recieved his Welsh Coal, Graham has knocked Elsie out of commission, and the Fat Controller is about to leave on his holiday! This chapter was a fun one to write, as I've always thought that "Coal" is a really underrated story. Adding the extra layer of making the Fat Controller so busy trying to get it that Thomas doesn't have time to talk to him about Glynn was just icing on the cake. Now, Henry is finally really useful (albeit with some help), but how do the other engines feel about it? How will Toby and Henrietta deal with Elsie needing repairs? And most importantly, how will the Fat Controller's holiday go? All these questions answered and more in the next chapter: "The Fat Controller's Holiday"!


	3. The Fat Controller's Holiday

"It's not fair!" Gordon grumbled at the sheds that night to James. Percy raised an eyebrow as he backed into his berth.

"What isn't fair?" He asked. James glared.

"Stay out of this, Percy! This is _tender engine_ business!" He snapped, but Gordon continued.

"Henry is being treated with _favoritism_! He gets his own 'special coal', and then starts… _swanking_ about like he owns the line! Whistling loudly in stations…it's undignified!" He huffed angrily. James snorted.

"Yeah! If the coal's so _special,_ why don't _we_ get to use it? I dragged my tender to the Mainland at the crack of dawn, picked it up, and brought it back, and I don't even get as much as a single lump! It's unbeli-"

"It's not the _coal,_ James." The red engine raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"It isn't?"

"It's the _principle!_ If Henry gets 'special coal', whose to say that he won't get other privileges? Special trains, new parts…he certainly hasn't _earned_ it with the way he's been working lately!" Percy grit his teeth.

"That's _why_ he has the coal! _He_ needs it, unlike you lot!"

"But that doesn't mean we don't still _want_ it! We work twice as hard as Henry!" James snapped, eyeing the trucks piled high with Welsh coal on the other side of the yard. Before the argument could continue, a familiar whistle sounded out and the engines spotted Henry puffing towards the turntable with an enormous grin on his face.

"Good evening, everyone!" He called. Gordon shot a glare at Percy.

"We'll continue this discussion later." He grunted under his breath. Percy rolled his eyes as Henry puffed onto the turntable. The green engine seemed to be in an incredible mood.

"How was everyone's day? Mine was _spectacular!_ The passengers didn't complain, my fire burned nicely, it was amazing!" Gordon was clearly prepping for some sarcastic retort, so Percy jumped in.

"That's so great, Henry! We're all so happy for you! _Aren't_ we?" He shot a glare at Gordon and James that Henry couldn't see. Henry reversed into his berth and whistled loudly. Gordon groaned.

"Will you _stop_ doing that?" He snapped. Henry was surprised.

"Sorry! I guess I forgot how loud it was!" Gordon snarled.

"You know what, that's it! I've _had_ it with you strutting about like _you're_ the fastest and the strongest and the best since you got your ' _special coal_ '! You may be stronger now, but you still have a _long_ history of mechanical faults and errors behind you!"

"You're not better than us just because you have fancy coal!" James added.

"Will you be _quiet_ about the blasted coal!?" Gordon shouted. James subsided as the big engine continued.

"Rome wasn't built in a day, Henry; you have a _long_ way to go before you can be really useful like us!" Henry's smile slowly fell into a frown. Quietly, he began to reverse into the sheds.

"Yes…I suppose so…" He muttered, seeming detached. Percy shot the two big engines a nasty scowl before quickly reversing after Henry.

"Don't listen to him, Henry! Your Welsh coal has already made you really useful!" Henry simply stared at his buffers.

"What happens when I run out?" He asked.

"The Fat Controller will order more!" Percy quickly replied. Henry sighed.

"And keep burning a hole in the budget…" Percy tried to find the words to reply, but Henry continued.

"Gordon's right. I have a long way to go before I can _really_ be useful…"

"Henry, come on, you just got your coal! You can't still be in the dumps now-"

"Percy, I'd like to be left alone."

"I'm just trying to help!"

"Well, you're NOT!" Percy stood stunned as Henry raised his voice, trying to find a way to respond. Finally, he sighed, and puffed back to the front of the sheds, leaving Henry alone, but shooting a frustrated scowl his way. As he reached the front, he glared at Gordon.

"I hope you're happy." Gordon just huffed, and went to sleep himself. As his other three shed-mates fell asleep, James continued to eye the trucks filled with welsh coal on the other side of the yard.

"Just a _lump…_ " He muttered, yawned, and fell asleep.

* * *

The Fat Controller opened the door of the country house, letting loose a sigh.

"Oh, this is lovely…" He chuckled to himself. His peace was short-lived, as two little terrors sprinted through the doors, dragging their grandmother by the hands.

"Come on, grandma! We need to unpack!" Bridget Hatt nagged.

"I want to play first, grandma!" Stephen Hatt begged, tugging on his grandmother's sleeve. Lady Hatt chuckled.

"Bridget's right, Stephen. We should unpack first; your rooms are upstairs…I trust you can find them on your own!" She winked at the children, who laughed as they sprinted up the stairs to the upper floor of the house. Lady Hatt noticed her husband studying the house, and walked towards him.

"I have to admit, Topham; you've really outdone yourself this time! How did you find this lovely house?" She asked. The Fat Controller chuckled, although he seemed to be somewhat sad.

"Well, now is normally the time that the Kyndleys would travel here, but seeing as Mrs. Kyndley is in no condition to travel, she saw fit to allow us the rental." He found himself troubled by his thoughts, looking out of the window. Lady Hatt sighed.

"I know you wish there was something the railway could do for her-"

"I wish there's something _I_ could do for her, Jane. She used to be so _lively_ , always traveling…" The Fat Controller was surprised by Lady Hatt wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

"We'll focus on Mrs. Kyndley later, dear. Now, we have a holiday ahead of us!" The Fat Controller smiled as he looked out of the window, spotting a steam tram and coach puff by.

"Yes, I suppose we do…"

* * *

Toby puffed into the platform at the top station, pulling only Henrietta behind him.

"Two weeks! When I see that Graham, I'm going to…going to…give him a piece of my mind!" Toby fumed, watching as a few passengers disembarked from Henrietta. The carriage sighed.

"Being upset about it won't help Elsie get repaired any faster, Toby." Toby simply looked down at his buffers in shame. However, a set of voices rang out that surprised him, and caused him to look up towards the platform.

"Come on, grandpa!" A little boy called. A little girl ran towards Toby and pointed at him.

"Look at this engine!" Toby raised an eyebrow as a stout gentleman walked up the platform towards him. The stout gentleman studied Toby before smiling.

"Ah yes! _That's_ a tram engine!" Toby's eyes widened, impressed.

"Huh. Usually they assume I'm a shed!" He mused under his breath. The little girl tugged at her grandfather's sleeve.

"Yes, Bridget?"

"Is he electric?" Henrietta stifled laughter as Toby scowled, letting off steam.

"Are you, Toby?" She chuckled. The little boy glared at Bridget.

"Shush, Bridget! You've _offended_ him!" He whispered. Bridget looked up at the stout gentleman.

"But trams _are_ electric, aren't they?" The stout gentleman smiled at Toby.

"Most are, yes. But this is a _steam_ tram; they're more unusual." The little boy eyed Toby with amazement.

"Wow! A _steam tram!_ " Henrietta smiled at his enthusiasm.

"You can take a ride if you'd like!" She called. The stout gentleman grinned as a woman walked alongside him.

"We would love to. Come on, Stephen! Come on, Bridget!" The children excitedly dashed aboard Henrietta, and the woman followed them. The stout gentleman studied Toby for another moment before smiling and boarding Henrietta himself. The guard blew his whistle, and Toby started off, pulling Henrietta behind him.

"Look at that, Toby! We haven't had passengers this excited to ride us in _years!_ Isn't that exciting?" Toby, however, didn't respond. He simply grumbled to himself as he left the station.

"Electric indeed… _electric indeed!_ "

* * *

Toby trundled along his tramway, his mood still not improving. However, Henrietta, who was happily rolling along behind him, was having a splendid time. The children stared out her windows and watched the countryside fly by with amazement. The old coach smiled as she looked forwards to Toby.

"We haven't had passengers who've just _enjoyed_ riding a train this much in years! It's like the old days, huh, Toby?" Toby grunted.

"They called me 'electric'." He muttered. Henrietta rolled her eyes.

"They didn't know any better, Toby! We have _passengers,_ passengers who just want to ride us and not the buses! Can't you be happy about that?" Toby's scowl softened, but he remained silent as he pulled into the station. The children sprinted out of Henrietta and onto the platform.

"Thank you, Toby!" They chorused, and ran away. Their grandmother followed them as fast as she could.

"Stephen, Bridget, hold on! We need to get lunch first!" Toby watched curiously as the stout gentleman stepped onto the platform, studying the station curiously for a moment. He then turned to Toby and his crew, who were taking a quick break before having to move Toby to the water tower.

"Thank you for giving my family and I a splendid ride." Toby raised an eyebrow.

"Thank _you_ for riding with us, sir. Most of the time people don't thank us; they just get off the train and get on their way." The stout gentleman chuckled.

"Well, that won't do at all, now will it? You have a lovely little line, might as well thank you for running it. What is your name?" Toby smiled.

"Toby, sir, and this is my coach, Henrietta." Henrietta smiled.

"Hello, sir." The stout gentleman smiled.

"A splendid coach indeed; pleasure to meet you, Henrietta." The old coach chuckled.

"A pleasure to meet you too, sir. We don't get passengers who love railways as much as you and your family do very often." Toby frowned from the front of the train.

"Well, nowadays, we don't get many passengers at all." He muttered. The stout gentleman was taken aback.

"Business is bad?" He asked the crew. The driver nodded.

"Buses and lorries have been taking all the work for the past few years, but it's been catching up with us recently."

"We're lucky if some of our trains get any passengers at all." The fireman added. The stout gentleman frowned.

"Well, we should be here for the next two weeks, and we will _certainly_ be passengers you can expect to see."

"Topham! We're getting lunch!" His wife called from the station café. The stout gentleman chuckled.

"Well, I must be off. A pleasure to meet you all." He shook hands with the driver and fireman and then turned to head off for lunch. However, before he left, he turned back to Toby.

"By the way, Toby, sorry for the 'electric' remark. I assure you that Bridget meant nothing by it." Toby was taken aback.

"Err…yes, it's not a problem, sir." The stout gentleman smiled.

"Good day, gentlemen!" He called to the crew, and walked into the café. Toby and Henrietta simply sat silent, impressed, for a moment, before Henrietta spoke up.

"Well, he was nice!" She remarked to Toby. The tram engine smiled to himself.

"Yes…he certainly knows how to speak to engines…" Toby then rolled away towards the water tower, pulling Henrietta behind him.

* * *

For the next two weeks, the stout gentleman was true to his word. Every morning, Toby and Henrietta could look forward to seeing the stout gentleman and his family on the platform, ready to travel up their line. The children were especially thrilled with Toby and Henrietta, and they would often return later in the day to spend time with them as they went about their other work. Sometimes, they rode in empty trucks, and sometimes they took a ride in Henrietta. The stout gentleman, who Toby found out was named Sir Topham Hatt, was also usually close by, and he, Toby's crew, and Toby himself would often talk about the state of the railway.

"It's a matter of convenience." Sir Topham Hatt mused about the buses and lorries as Toby waited in the platform of the top station. Toby grunted in agreement. One day, Toby arrived at the top station to see the family waiting on the platform. Stephen and Bridget sprinted towards him as he braked into the platform.

"Hi, Toby!" Stephen called.

"Hi, Henrietta!" Bridget added. Henrietta smiled.

"Hello, you two." She replied warmly. Stephen jumped up with excitement.

"We were wondering if we could ride in your cab?" He blurted out. Toby's driver laughed.

"I don't see why not, if Toby's alright with it." He chuckled. Toby beamed.

"Of course I am!" He replied, and Stephen and Bridget excitedly ran into the cab.

Stephen and Bridget loved riding with the crew, and Toby loved having them on board. He was so happy that he didn't even notice Graham waiting at the crossing with a nasty sneer on his face.

"'ey, Toby! Makin' de funeral march yet?" He taunted, but was surprised when Toby simply trundled by, ignoring him. Graham frowned as Toby disappeared into the distance.

"'ey! 'ey! Yer canny jist ignore me! Pay attenshun ter me!" Toby didn't "pay attenshun", and simply continued on his way as Graham pouted.

"'e's _ignorin'_ me! Unbelievable!" He snorted.

At last, the end of the day came, and Toby returned to the top station with Stephen and Bridget, where Sir Topham Hatt and his wife were waiting.

"Thank you so much!" Bridget quickly said to the crew as she ran back towards her grandparents.

"Thank you!" Stephen added, before following his sister. The driver chuckled.

"You're very welcome." Sir Topham Hatt chuckled.

"Well, Toby, Henrietta, we must be returning home now, but it was a pleasure to meet you. I hope that your line keeps running for as long as possible!" Toby beamed.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, and your family, sir! Please come back again soon!"

"Of course we will!" Stephen replied.

"We can't _wait!_ " Bridget grinned. Sir Topham Hatt smiled.

"Come on, everyone! We have to catch our train on the main line!" As the family walked away, Toby smiled to himself.

"What a kind man…" He muttered to himself. Meanwhile, as the Fat Controller and his family climbed into the car and started driving away, the stout gentleman had a similar thought.

"An engine like that would be really useful on Sodor…" He thought to himself, before driving away. As he left, Bridget wrapped herself up in her coat.

"It's getting rather chilly, grandpa…" She shivered. The Fat Controller looked out of the window.

"That's what happens in December, Bridget…" He replied, observing the last few leaves fall from a roadside tree.

* * *

The Fat Controller has gone on his holiday, has met Toby, and now he is returning home. Despite Henry's assistance from the Welsh coal, he still isn't redeemed in the eyes of his co-workers, and is even pushing Percy, his main supportive force away, as winter arrives. "Toby & The Stout Gentleman" is such a pleasant episode, and I loved adapting it for the purposes of this story, and especially expanding the backstory to include both Graham and Mrs. Kyndley. How will the engines deal with the cold weather? How will Toby deal with Graham and the other buses closing in? In next chapter, we will deviate from the canon order of things a tad with an adaptation of a story that doesn't really fit into the overall plot structure of its original book, but should do nicely here. What story is this? Well, the chapter title should give it away. To answer all your un-answered questions and continue the story, read the fourth chapter: "I Want a Scarf"!


	4. I Want a Scarf!

As it always seemed to, snow came rather early on Sodor, and the reds and browns of the autumn were quickly replaced with the flat white of a blanket of snow. Thomas had temporarily moved back into Tidmouth Sheds to escape the cold, and while the engines liked seeing him more frequently again, his complaining about the cold weather and having to wear his snowplough didn't help their already sour moods. One morning, Thomas and Percy were waiting for the firelighter to come so they could start their day. A cold gust of wind blew by as Thomas shivered.

"All I want is a w-w-warm boiler…where is firelighter? He's late, and making us wait in the c-c-cold!" Percy scanned the yard, but there was no sign of the firelighter anywhere. Suddenly, he spotted a clock and groaned. Thomas raised an eyebrow.

"What?"  
"Firelighter isn't late…the wind woke us up early." Percy grumbled. Thomas grunted.

"Great." The wind howled as Thomas and Percy shut their eyes and tried to return to sleep. They couldn't, and Thomas opened his eyes.

"Can't you ask H-H-Henry about using some of his Welsh coal to w-w-warm up? You two have always been close, and that stuff burns hotter than any coal I've ever seen! He must be pretty comfortable right now…" To Thomas' surprise, Percy scowled.

"I'm not speaking to Henry right now."

"Oh." The wind howled again. Percy groaned.

"Maybe if we talk about warm things, we'll start thinking we're warm? Like sunshine, steam…"

"Percy, I really don't see how that could help." Thomas replied. Percy sighed.

"Okay, you're right…" The silence took over again. Suddenly, Percy gasped, delightedly.

"Scarves!"

"What?"

"Scarves around our funnels would make us feel _way_ warmer!" Thomas laughed.

"Yes, Percy, a woolly scarf around your funnel _would_ make you feel much better!" The tank engine laughed to himself, but Percy was absolutely delighted about scarves until the firelighter arrived.

* * *

The Fat Controller had settled in back at home, and was preparing to give some special visitors a tour of the railway. He had had his special trousers pressed, and had just put them in his trunk when he heard his wife calling from downstairs.

"Honey! Your porridge is ready!"

"Coming, dear!" He shut the trunk and walked downstairs. Lady Hatt had placed the porridge on the table and was now pouring two cups of tea for her and her husband. The Fat Controller sat at the table and ate a spoonful of his porridge.

"Oh, that's delicious…" He muttered to himself as he ate another few spoonfuls. Lady Hatt smiled at him.

"Topham, are you ready to show those important visitors the railway?" The Fat Controller chuckled.

"Certainly, my dear! I made sure to put my nice trousers away in the trunk so they don't get dirty before the photographs are taken-oh, goodness me, look at the time! I must be off to catch my train!" He quickly walked upstairs, grabbed his trunk, and dragged it down the stairs. His wife handed him a scarf as he put on his top hat and prepared to walk out the door.

"It's cold today, Topham, please stay warm." She said. The Fat Controller smiled as he wrapped the scarf around his neck.

"Of course, Jane. Have a good day!" He gave his wife a kiss on the cheek and walked out the door, leaving Lady Hatt to continue sipping her tea.

* * *

Percy had now started his work in the yard, but still felt rather bitter about the cold.

"I want a scarf! I want a scarf!" He grumbled as he shunted some trucks onto a siding nearby Judy and Jerome the Breakdown Cranes.

"Good morning, Percy!" Jerome called, but Percy simply ignored him and kept grumbling about scarves. Judy raised an eyebrow.

"What's he talking about, Jerome?"

"Scarves, I think."

"Oh. What could an engine want with a scarf?"

"I have no idea, Judy."

"Well, that's not very helpful, is it?" Percy continued his shunting, shivering to himself as he left the trucks on a siding by the water tower. He bumped them hard as they rolled towards the end of the siding. The trucks groaned.

"Ouch!" One shouted. Percy grumbled.

"My funnel's cold! I want a scarf!"

"What are you talking about, Percy?" Percy jumped in surprise as Henry rolled alongside to take on water from the tower. Percy frowned.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" He snapped, before shivering. Henry sighed.

"Look, Percy, I-"

"If you _must_ know, Henry, it's very cold and I want a scarf!" Henry snorted.

"A _scarf?_ That's rubbish, Percy; engines don't wear scarves!" Percy glared as Henry continued to laugh at the idea. Suddenly, he got an idea, and smirked cheekily.

"Engines _do_ wear scarves, Henry! At least, those with proper funnels do; you've only got a small one!" It was Henry's turn to frown as Percy laughed loudly. Henry rolled his eyes.

"Very funny." He grunted. Suddenly, Henry was interrupted by the sound of James' whistle, and he and Percy watched as James rolled, shivering, into the platform with a line of coaches.

"P-P-Percy! C-c-c'mon! I have coaches w-w-waiting!" Percy glared.

"I'm coming, James!" He whistled and began to roll away, but not before wheeshing steam at Henry, causing the big green engine to cough as the little engine disappeared. Henry sighed.

"Oh, dear…"

"Hey, Henry!" Henry looked up to see James grinning at him from the platform (or, at least, as much as he could grin with his chattering teeth).

"I don't s-s-suppose I could use some of that W-W-Welsh coal of yours, could I?" He asked. Henry rolled his eyes.

"There's only so much, James. It's for me only, not you." James scowled as Henry whistled, his tank filled, and rolled away to wait in the platform for his important train.

* * *

Percy had taken James' coaches away, and had just shunted Henry's coaches into his platform for the special train. He spotted the Fat Controller talking to the important visitors on the platform as he reversed away to continue his work.

"Are we ready for the photographs yet, Sir Topham?" One of the visitors turned to the Fat Controller, who chuckled sheepishly.

"Almost, my good man. Just waiting on one thing…" He looked down at the line below, where two porters were moving a trolley piled high with luggage, amongst it the Fat Controller's trunk.

"Come on, hurry up, Archie! They're waiting for us up there!" One of the porters said to the other, looking up at the platform. The other porter shook his head.

"They can wait; we need to make sure that none of this luggage falls off!" They continued to walk backwards, slowly and carefully moving the trolley as the Fat Controller impatiently looked at his watch.

* * *

Percy had shunted some trucks onto a siding when the Yard Manager came running over.

"There are some coaches left in the platform that need to be taken away, can you go and fetch them, please?" Percy scowled.

"Henry's already in the station! Can't he take them away, it's cold! _I'm_ cold!" The Yard Manager frowned.

"Really useful engines don't argue, Percy." Percy sighed and began heading back towards the station.

* * *

As Percy approached the station, he smirked to himself as he spotted Henry's coaches, as the big green engine was still waiting in the platform for his train. He chuckled to himself.

"I'll sneak up on him! That'll teach him to call my ideas rubbish!" As Percy began to get closer to the station, his driver shut off steam and the small engine giggled as he began to sneak into the station as quietly as he could.

"Henry can't hear me now!" Percy smirked. However, the porters, who were still crossing the line very slowly and deliberately with the luggage trolley, couldn't hear Percy either. Suddenly, one of them looked up and gasped.

"Look out! A train!" Quickly, he grabbed the other porter (who was rather surprised) and jumped free of the line. Percy gasped.

"I can't stop!" Then, everything happened at once. Percy collided with the luggage trolley, boxes and bags bursting open. One such box was the Fat Controller's trunk!

" _No!_ " The Fat Controller cried as the contents of his trunk flew everywhere, including his special trousers! However, that wasn't the worst of the damage. One of the boxes on the cart had been a crate filled with jam, which flew into the air before hitting Percy and bursting everywhere. Percy, the Fat Controller, and the important passengers were all covered in sticky jam.

"Oh no!" Percy had his eyes shut tight as the jam splashed down on him. A top hat landed on his lamp iron and the trousers had lovingly coiled themselves around his funnel. Finally, everything stopped, and they were able to assess the damage. One of the important passengers groaned loudly.

"My clothes!" She cried. The others began complaining to the Fat Controller. He, however, simply glared at Percy before stomping over towards him. Percy winced as the Fat Controller grabbed the jam-soaked top hat from his lamp iron.

"Mine!" He snapped as he put it back on his head and it began to sag. He groaned and looked at the passengers, who were all complaining to each other.

"The photographs are ruined!"

"The state of this railway!" The Fat Controller looked back to Percy.

"Percy, look at this! What on earth were you _trying_ to do?" Percy blushed, embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, sir. I was trying to sneak up on Henry, sir." He replied, quietly. The Fat Controller looked up at Percy's funnel and groaned again.

"My best trousers, too!" He lamented. Percy winced.

"This'll take _ages_ to get out!" One of the passengers shouted. The Fat Controller frowned at Percy, his brow furrowing.

"Now we have to pay these people for their spoiled clothes, _and_ my favorite trousers are ruined! I hope this will teach you not to play tricks!" Percy winced and began to scuttle through the station.

"Yes, sir! Sorry, sir!" He rushed through the front of the station, past Henry, who was surprised.

"Percy? What on earth happened to you?" Percy had already disappeared towards the yard, much to Henry's confusion.

* * *

Percy had returned to shunting trucks in the yard once Henry had left with the special train. He was so ashamed of himself that he had forgotten to be cleaned. This truly proved to be a costly mistake.

"Well, well, well, Percy! It seems you found a scarf after all!" James teased as he rolled into the yards with a goods train. Percy sighed.

"Very funny, James." He muttered. James continued to smirk.

"Bit of bad news though, Percy; _legs_ go in trousers, not funnels!"

"I know that, James."

"You sure?"

"Yes." Percy grunted. James snorted.

"Suit yourself!" He then sped away, laughing to himself. Percy sighed and continued his work. At least his funnel felt warm.

* * *

That evening, Henry returned with the special train. Thomas was waiting in the other platform with Annie and Clarabel, and noticed the Fat Controller walking towards his office. He had wiped the jam off his face but his suit was still soaked.

"Excuse me, sir! Sir!" Thomas called, but he was interrupted.

"Shush! It can wait, he's had a long day." Henry watched as the Fat Controller walked towards his office and shut the door. Thomas raised an eyebrow.

"What happened to him?" Henry sighed.

"Percy hit a luggage trolley on his way into the station. Boxes, bags, jam everywhere; it was a mess. He spoiled the Fat Controller's favorite trousers too." Thomas frowned.

"Oh dear." Henry sighed.

"Oh dear indeed."

Percy was back at the sheds, feeling rather sorry for himself.

"There we go…all clean!" The driver grinned as he finished. He and the fireman had removed the trousers and had given him a good cleaning, but Percy was still miserable.

"Great." He muttered. Suddenly, he heard two whistles, and Thomas and Henry rolled up to the turntable. Thomas got on first and backed into his berth, and Henry followed him. Percy sat in shame for a moment before Thomas spoke up.

"Firelighter's promised to come early tomorrow, so we won't be cold for as long." He smiled. Percy sighed.

"That's good." However, Percy was surprised by Henry giving him a warm smile.

"The weather's supposed to be warmer tomorrow, so you won't need a scarf, Percy." He grinned. Slowly, Percy's mouth curled into a cheeky smile.

"Certainly not! Engines don't need scarves, engines need warm boilers! Everybody knows that!" The three engines shared a laugh together. Thomas grinned.

"If you don't need that scarf of yours, Percy, I don't suppose you would mind if I borrowed it?" Percy smirked.

"Well, I don't think the Fat Controller will be needing it." He chuckled. Thomas beamed as his driver grabbed the balled-up trousers from in the corner of the shed and whistled.

"I know someone who might need this!" He called, and left the sheds towards his branch line. To Percy's surprise, Henry cleared his throat.

"Percy, I'm sorry for snapping at you a few weeks ago. I know you were just trying to help." Percy beamed.

"It's alright, Henry, I forgive you." Henry smiled back, before Percy raised an eyebrow.

"So, Henry, how was the special?" Henry chuckled.

"I'm glad you asked, I…" Percy and Henry chatted into the night, friends again.

* * *

Meanwhile, Thomas arrived at Ffarquhar, where he spotted a shivering old engine on a siding.

"Oh, h-h-hello, Thomas! What are you d-d-doing down here? You don't have a t-t-train." Glynn asked, clearly frozen to the frames. Thomas smiled.

"Thought you might be cold, so I was going to give you something to warm you up." Glynn was surprised as Thomas' driver stepped down from the cab, holding the trousers.

"Eh? What's that?" Thomas smiled.

"A scarf! This should keep your funnel warm no matter how cold it gets!" Glynn simply watched in surprise as the driver wrapped the trousers around Glynn's funnel. The Coffee Pot smiled.

"I…thank you, Thomas." Thomas beamed.

"As soon as I talk to the Fat Controller about you, Glynn, you'll be back in service before you know it. I promise." Glynn appeared troubled by this, but he simply decided to look up at his scarf and smile.

"It is much warmer now. Thank you." Thomas smiled.

"You're welcome, Glynn."

* * *

Percy and Henry have settled their short-lived feud, and Thomas has given Glynn a scarf to shield him from the cold. This chapter was a little bit hard to write, as I wasn't sure what I could really flesh out beyond the original story, but I'm happy with the way it turned out. I incorporated a bunch of elements from the TV series version of _Percy & The Trousers, A Scarf for Percy, _and I think it fleshed the story out a ton. However, despite seeing how Sodor has dealt with the winter, we still aren't sure how Toby, Henrietta, and Elsie are dealing with it back in East Anglia. How is Graham antagonizing them now? Will Toby fight back? Will James ever get one lump of Henry's special Welsh coal? Find out in the fifth chapter, "White Snow, Black Coal", as the winter continues.


	5. White Snow, Black Coal

Back in East Anglia, it was even colder than on Sodor. Toby shivered to himself as he pulled into the platform of the top station, pulling Henrietta and Elsie behind him. Elsie groaned as the trio pulled into the platform.

"I'm barely back in service and I'm already frozen to the frames…" She muttered. Henrietta sighed as she watched her few passengers, huddled in scarves, hats, and gloves, walking onto the platform.

"The number of people is getting smaller by the day…" Toby frowned, but he suddenly heard a familiar voice clearing his throat and rolled his eyes.

" _Great…_ " He looked over to see Graham's familiar sneer waiting at the bus stop.

"Not keepin' yisser passengers pure toasty, ye, Toby?" Toby glared at the green bus as he laughed.

"Oh, be quiet, Graham!" He snapped, but Graham wasn't intimidated at all.

"Ah, git aff yisser 'igh 'orse! Yisser passengers prefer ridin' in a smart bus loike me, 'tis as simple as dat." He smirked, before Elsie glared at him.

"What do you have over us? Your roads are twice as slippery as our rails; you're far more likely to have an accident!" Graham scoffed.

"Ah've never 'ad an accident, an' besides, at laest oi 'av an 'eated interior so me passengers don't a go into popsicles!" Henrietta scowled as Graham cackled at his own wit. Toby rolled his eyes again.

"That type of attitude won't serve you well, Graham. Ice and snow are more dangerous than you think!" It was Graham's turn to roll his eyes.

"Ah, please! Oi don't nade ter take advice from artifacts loike yer lot, oi actually 'av work ter chucker!" He honked his horn and rolled out of the car park, leaving Toby glaring after him. Elsie growled.

"That horrid bus! I-"

"He won't change, it's not worth complaining about, dear." Henrietta soothed. Toby simply remained frowning as the sound of Graham's engine got farther and farther away.

* * *

Graham made his way along the icy roads, trying to get to his next stop as quickly as he could.

"'Tis freezin' the-day! Oi jist want ter git al' dees people wha they nade ter go so oi can noggin back ter me nice warm garage!" He reached a traffic light and prepared to turn right onto the road closest to the railway line. The wind had begun to pick up, and Graham shivered as it nipped at his fenders. He looked up and saw the passengers in his seats, feeling nice and warm. The bus growled.

"Dense passengers...they git ter be warm while _oi'm_ stuk oyt in de perishin' cowl!" The light turned green and Graham made the turn. However, his tires began to lose grip in the turn.

"'uh? Why canny oi stop?" Graham slid along the icy road, desperately trying to regain control. He swerved to avoid a lorry driving in the opposite direction.

"Learn to drive!" The lorry driver shouted out the window as Graham continued to slide along the road. Suddenly, Graham spotted some roadworks signs down the road and gasped.

"Aw naw! Stop! Stop!" It was too late. Graham slammed his brakes on as hard as he could, trying to get under control but he couldn't stop himself from bursting through the roadworks signs. Thankfully, the momentum from the sign had caused him to begin to slow down, but Graham's front tires were hanging over the large hole the signs had been blocking. Graham groaned woozily as the workmen walked back towards him.

"Ouch…" He muttered, before groaning.

* * *

Luckily, the workmen all helped Graham's passengers out, and soon enough everyone was standing on the pavement. One passenger frowned as he tried to bundle up.

"Well, what are we going to do now? We can't just stand out here in the cold!" Two of the workmen looked at each other.

"No other bus takes this route, so I'm afraid you may have to walk back to the last station and try and wait for a train." The passengers chattered to one another.

"The station is miles away!"

"In this weather?" Suddenly, they heard the sound of a bell and were surprised to see Toby making his way down the line with Henrietta and Elsie behind him. The tram engine raised an eyebrow as he braked to a halt alongside the scene of the accident.

"Oh dear, what's happened here?" He asked. Graham blushed in embarrassment as one of the workmen flagged Toby down.

"The bus lost control on the icy roads and these people need to get home. Have you enough room in your coach?" Toby was about to reply, but was cut off by Henrietta.

"Plenty of room! Climb aboard, everybody!" She called.

* * *

Soon enough, all of the passengers had crowded into Henrietta, and she was glowing with joy. Toby was happy to have a lot of passengers, and even Elsie had a smile on her face!

"You've so many passengers, Henrietta, that you would think a few would need to ride in me!" The luggage van joked, causing the tram and coach to laugh. Henrietta suddenly felt her door shut and grinned.

"That's the last of them, Toby! Off we go!" Toby grinned and rang his bell triumphantly as he slowly began to leave the roadworks.

"We've got _passengers!_ " He laughed giddily as he left the scene of the crash, leaving a humiliated Graham behind, waiting to be rescued from the hole.

* * *

Toby made good time, and soon enough he arrived at the station. He braked to a stop in the platform before letting out a sigh of relaxation. The passengers disembarked from Henrietta, but not before thanking the driver, fireman, and guard for helping them.

"A splendid piece of work!"

"We'll make sure not to forget this!" Henrietta beamed to herself as the passengers left.

"Come back anytime! We'll always have room!" As the passengers disappeared, Henrietta whooped with happiness.

"Passengers! We're back! They're sure to come back now!" Toby smiled, but the sound of a horn stopped him from speaking further. Outside the yard was a tow lorry tugging a scowling and dented Graham back into the yard. Elsie snickered.

"Look, you two! It's the champion skater himself!" Graham grit his teeth as the trio laughed at him.

"Yer tink dis is gas, chucker yer? Well, yer won't be laughin' once oi'm repaired, cos I'll take yisser passengers al' over again! You're runnin' on borrowed time!" He snarled, which didn't really mean much when his front was hanging up in the air by a hook. Elsie smirked back at him.

"I don't think the passengers are going to be very friendly towards your reckless driving anymore!" She called. Graham narrowed his eyes.

"Really? Oi tink they'll be al' too willin' ter ride wi' me again once they mind oi'm _'eated!_ " The guard's whistle blew and Toby began to pull out of the station, leaving Graham behind him. However, Henrietta sighed.

"He's right…I'm sure this victory won't last long…" Elsie frowned, but Toby cut her off before she could say anything.

"It's a victory nonetheless." The three had to be content as they made their way onwards, leaving Graham in the car park, rambling to no one.

* * *

Edward was finishing up some shunting at his station when he heard a noise coming up the line. He recognized it instantly and rolled his eyes.

"Here comes trouble…" He muttered, and sure enough, James tore into the station with his local passenger train.

"It's not fair! It's not fair! It's not fair!" He chanted as he came to a stop. Edward sighed.

"What isn't fair, James?" James gave Edward a glance.

"It's that Henry! We all have to freeze our buffers off in this horrible tundra while he gets 'special coal' to help him keep warm! I _picked up_ the stuff _for_ him, and I still can't even have a lump! It's disgraceful!" He snorted indignantly. Edward raised an eyebrow.

"You and I both know that that isn't what the coal is for, James. The coal is so Henry can get a proper fire burning in his small firebox so he can be really useful." James remained scowling.

"Pah! His fat firebox doesn't need 'special coal', Henry's just lazy! I suffer this horrible cold without fuss and still get all my work done!" Edward chuckled.

"Without fuss, James?" The guard's whistle blew, and Edward could only watch as James tore out of the station in a huff.

* * *

James had returned to the yards later that day when he noticed that there was no one else there. His eyes darted left and then right, but there was nobody around. James smirked to himself, before looking back at his cab.

"Driver, I asked Henry in the sheds last night and he said that it was no bother for me to use his coal. He told me to go right ahead!" James' driver scratched his head in confusion.

"Did he? I feel like we would have to run that by the Fat Controller…" James frowned.

"It's Henry's coal, not the Fat Controller's!" The driver thought for a moment and then shrugged.

"Alright, James. If you say so." James grinned to himself as his driver and fireman climbed down to load his tender with Welsh coal.

* * *

Later, Henry returned to the coal pile and noticed something was off. Percy rolled alongside to see Henry looking troubled.

"What's wrong, Henry?"

"I could have sworn that I had more Welsh coal when I left it this morning, Percy, but I haven't taken on anymore coal…" Henry replied, looking at the coal pile with concern. Percy raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I didn't take any of it, Henry." Henry frowned.

"This is very mysterious indeed." He muttered, looking at the missing part of the coal pile.

* * *

James, meanwhile, was having the time of his life as he rumbled along the main line with a goods train.

"This is incredible! My fire has never felt this strong! I'm _INVINCIBLE!_ " He whooped happily, causing a passing Gordon with the express to raise an eyebrow. However, James' driver and fireman weren't having as good of a time as their engine. The coal was burning very well…too well, in fact. The fireman tried to control the flames but they kept blowing back into the cab from the strong fire. The driver groaned.

"It's getting way too hot in here…" He muttered. The fireman tried to shovel a lump of coal out of the strongly burning fire, but felt the heat and dropped the flaming coal on the cab floor.

"Ouch! Blast it!" He whacked the lump with a shovel to put it out, turning it into powder on the floor of the cab. James took no notice, simply laughing to himself as he sped through the snowy countryside.

* * *

James was rather satisfied when he returned to the sheds early that evening from how well he had worked with the Welsh coal.

"An excellent day's work, if I do say so myself!" He chortled to himself as he reversed into the sheds. His driver poked his head out of the cab, unamused.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, because we are never using that coal again! The cab's covered in soot!"

"And so are we!" The fireman replied, but before James could retort, the yard manager walked up to the sheds.

"Ah, James! Since you're back early, you can do this job!" James raised an eyebrow.

"A job, sir?" The yard manager looked at his clipboard.

"There's a goods train in the shunting yards that needs to head to Vicarstown as soon as possible." James groaned loudly.

"A _goods_ train!? Can't Henry do it? He loves parading about with _goods trains_!" The yard manager frowned.

" _Henry_ is scheduled to take the 'Flying Kipper' early in the morning and needs his rest. You, however, don't." James rolled his eyes and harrumphed.

"Fine. Whatever." He whistled and began to set off towards the yard, grumbling to himself.

"At least this will be easy with the rest of the Welsh coal…" He muttered, before smirking.

* * *

It had gotten dark on James' journey to the yards. Thomas was waiting in the platform with Annie and Clarabel when he spotted James on his way past the station.

"Be careful tonight, James! There's snow on the way!" James snorted.

"I've dealt with snow before, thank you, Thomas!" Thomas rolled his eyes as James disappeared into the distance. Annie scoffed.

"That attitude of his might get him into trouble." She muttered. Clarabel snorted.

" _Might?_ " The three listened to the sound of James disappearing towards the yards.

* * *

James had picked up his trucks and had begun to make his way down the main line towards Vicarstown. The snow had begun to fall, but James wasn't fazed at all.

"With this Welsh coal, the cold doesn't bother me!" He called over the howling wind, grinning to himself. However, in the cab, his crew were not having nearly as easy a time. James' fire was acting up again, and the flames were blowing back into the cab more than ever. As James switched into the loop to allow the evening express to pass, flames burst out of the firebox and into the cab, much to the crew's horror.

"The cab floor's on fire!" James had begun to feel the heat coming from the cab and groaned in pain.

"What on earth is going on back there?" However, he didn't get an answer. What he did get, however, was the sound of a loud "CRACK", and he suddenly found his load becoming much lighter.

"What?" Slowly, James managed to come to a stop as his crew stomped out the small fire that had started on the floor of the cab. The driver was absolutely furious as he waved the last of the smoke aside.

"You great silly engine, now look what's happened! That ruddy Welsh coal burned your tender coupling apart, and now we're stuck!" James looked back to see that his tender and train were a considerable distance behind him. He pouted.

"It's not my fault!" He complained. The fireman crossed his arms.

"Who was it that wanted to use the Welsh coal, James? That stuff's for engines who _need_ it; it burns too strongly in a normal firebox! Now, we have to get help!" James groaned as the driver climbed back into the cab and began slowly reversing him back towards the train.

"At least I'll have the coal to keep me warm in this snow…" However, as James rolled to a stop, he was shocked to feel a huge cold hole where there was once warmth.

"Hey! Why'd you throw out my fire, it's freezing!" James barked. The driver rolled his eyes.

"We can't keep your fire burning if there's no water from the tender, James; you'll run dry!" James scowled.

"Great. Well, at least we'll be suffering in this cold together, eh?" The driver and fireman shared a glance and began to laugh. James raised an eyebrow.

"What? What's so funny?" The driver finished laughing and wiped a tear from his eye.

"After we tell the signalman to stop all trains, we're drinking cocoa with the guard in the brake van until help arrives! Nice and toasty in there!" James spluttered as his crew began to walk back towards the signalbox.

" _What?_ You can't just leave me out in the cold! Hey! COME BACK!" His crew had already walked out of sight. James shivered as the snow continued to fall around him.

"Stupid Welsh coal…" He muttered.

* * *

Graham's received his comeuppance and James is stuck out in the snow! Writing Graham's karmic retribution, an adaptation of the Christopher Awdry annual story _You Never Know_ (albeit with several liberties), the character's original debut and only appearance in the entire franchise, was a lot of fun as it is a story that people rarely decide to touch. Elsie is also back in service now too, having just missed the Fat Controller's visit. Where will this lead? Wait and see. James' plot was originally conceived as a standalone story but I decided that it would be better to just integrate it into the special it took place during to directly tie into _The Flying Kipper._ Will anyone come to James' rescue? How long will Toby, Henrietta, and Elsie keep their victory? And, of course, how will Henry pulling the Flying Kipper go? You probably know the answer to this last question anyway, but find out the answers in the sixth chapter: "From Bad to Worse", featuring a new song sequence!


	6. From Bad to Worse

Back at the sheds, all the other engines were asleep except Henry. He was being stoked up with his special coal for an early morning train.

"What's this train called again?" He asked his driver, who was currently helping the fireman set up Henry's fire.

"The 'Flying Kipper'. We take fish from the docks to the stations along the line before another engine at Vicarstown takes it to places far away." Henry raised an eyebrow as he felt his fire warming up.

"Funny name for a train." He remarked to himself, but the fireman laughed.

"We'll hear no complaints from you, Henry! The Fat Controller says that if we pull the Kipper nicely, he may let us pull Gordon's express! Wouldn't that be lovely?" Henry broke out into a grin.

"Hurrah!" He chuckled to himself, but noticed Gordon stirring in his berth and quieted down. The driver poked his head out of the cab and grinned.

"Alright, Henry, we're ready! Off we go!" Henry slowly pulled out of the sheds and made his way towards the docks to pick up the Flying Kipper.

* * *

It was still dark when Henry arrived at the docks, but the day had already begun. Ships were docking with passengers and freight aboard, but what Henry noticed most was the strong smell of fish in the air. Henry then noticed a train of vans sitting on the line beside him, being loaded with crates of fish by the dockworkers. He sniffed the air and coughed from the strong smell.

"That must be the 'Kipper'." He muttered to himself, before switching lines and backing onto the vans. His driver smiled as Henry was coupled up.

"This will be a lovely run; nothing but the snow and the silence." Henry smiled.

"I suppose so, yes. It'll be good to have a nice quiet run to think." He looked at a nearby clock, which displayed that it was five o'clock in the morning.

"Never been out this early before." He remarked. The driver yawned from the cab.

"Thankfully, I got plenty of sleep last night, otherwise I'd be exhausted." Henry chuckled.

"I don't know, I like the early morning. I could get used to this…" Suddenly, Henry heard the slamming of a door, and looked back towards the vans.

"All ready, Henry!" One of the dock workers called. Henry looked back as the guard showed his green lamp and whistled proudly.

"Come along! Come along!" He called, and began his journey into the early morning snow.

* * *

Henry was soon enough out on the main line, his fish vans trundling along behind him. It was so quiet that all he could hear was the sound of his own puffing. He breathed in and let out a sigh.

"This snow really is beautiful." He muttered under his breath, and continued along his journey.

 _You wake to the silence, the bright afterglow_

 _Now there's a surprise, for what do you know_

 _It's snowing_

 _Look, it's snowing_

As Henry rumbled along the line, he suddenly noticed a few snowflakes slowly falling towards the rails. Henry gasped in delight as the snow whirled around him.

 _Little Jack Frost has been busy last night_

 _The Island of Sodor is a blanket of white_

 _'Cause it's snowing_

 _Yes, it's snowing_

As Henry stopped at each station to have crates of fish unloaded, he began to truly enjoy himself. The sky was turning orange as the sun began to rise, but it was still dark enough to just make it peaceful. After the final crate was unloaded at Wellsworth, Henry whistled and continued along his way into the early morning.

 _White Winter Wonderland_

 _Beautiful day_

 _Snow, snow, snow, snow_

For once, the snow wasn't getting in Henry's way as he made his way along the line. In fact, as he puffed along, a snowflake blew onto his nose. Henry's eyes widened as he stared at it.

 _Snow, snow, snow, snow_

He smiled, before blowing it away and continuing along his way.

 _There in the valley, someone you'll know_

 _Henry pulls his long train through ice and snow_

 _Whistle blowing_

 _Yes, it's snowing_

Henry rolled over the Suspension Bridge, looking down at the snowy landscape below. Finally, Henry began to hear the sounds of birds chirping and smiled. He blew his whistle as he and his train crossed the bridge.

 _It's a beautiful world; It's a lovely day_

 _Cherish this moment, remember this day_

 _'Cause it's snowing_

 _Yes, it's snowing_

As Henry and his train rolled over a hill, he could see the lights coming on in the town below. The sky remained orange, and Henry smiled warmly at the beautiful sight as he rolled through a green signal.

 _White Winter Wonderland_

 _Beautiful day_

 _Snow, snow, snow, snow_

Henry trundled along the line, steam billowing from his funnel, the fish vans following him, and let out a sigh; he was truly at peace. Suddenly, he raised an eyebrow at a yellow light in the distance.

"That's funny…a yellow signal usually means danger." He muttered under his breath. His driver looked out of the cab window.

"It's yellow, but the home signal is down…all clear, I guess, Henry!" Henry whistled and rolled past the signal, not noticing the amount of snow on top of the home signal.

 _White Winter Wonderland_

 _Beautiful day_

 _Snow, snow, snow, snow_

 _Snow, snow, snow, snow_

 _Stay, stay, please stay…_

Henry rolled onwards for a little longer before reaching a junction. He rolled over the points and kept going onwards, paying them no heed. However, if he had, he would have noticed that he had been directed onto the loop…

* * *

James sat in the cold, snow beginning to gather on his running plate. He shivered in discomfort.

"It's s-s-s-so c-c-c-c-c-cold…" He muttered. However, the driver, fireman, and guard were having the time of their lives back in the brake van. The fireman took a swig from the mug and sighed after swallowing it.

"This cocoa is _delicious!_ Where did you say the recipe's from?" The guard smiled modestly after taking another swig of his own.

"My mother used to make it when I was growing up; nothing in this chilly weather really hits the spot like it!" The driver grinned.

"Cheers to that!" The three men clinked their mugs together and each took a sip. The guard finished his first before looking at his watch.

"Isn't the Kipper due soon? That's when our clearance is to try and secure James' coupling and head to the next station, isn't it?" The fireman, still drinking his cocoa, scoffed.

"Who cares? It's not through yet; we have time! Besides, this cocoa won't drink itself!" The driver rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"No, he's right. Come on, Ted, I think James has learned his lesson by now and we _do_ have clearance." The fireman sighed.

"Alright. Care to walk back with us, Jasper?" The guard shrugged.

"I don't see why not." The three men placed their mugs on the table and left the brake van.

* * *

It was very lucky that they had. Henry rounded the bend and saw the train ahead of him. He gasped in horror, but he couldn't even get a word out before colliding with the brake van. The driver and fireman jumped clear, but Henry tore onwards, knocking the vans aside at full speed. Finally, Henry managed to slow down and come to a stop, slamming into the ground and coming to lay on his side, steam leaking everywhere. James, who had felt the bump at the front of the train, looked back in anger.

"Henry! What are you playing at? You just plowed into me at full speed!" However, James got no response. His scowl softened into a worried expression.

"Henry?" Still, no reply. James winced.

"Henry, if you're playing a joke, it isn't funny! Say something!" The silence remained. James' face went pale.

" _Henry! HENRY!_ "

* * *

Henry finally stirred awake a few hours later as he was being lifted into the air by Judy and Jerome. He heard James give a very audible sigh of relief as his vision was restored.

"Henry! You're alright!" Henry groaned.

"What happened?" He looked down to see his driver and fireman waiting nearby.

"That yellow signal we saw _was_ supposed to be set at danger; snow forced it down. The points were frozen and you got directed into the loop." The driver explained. Henry groaned as he was placed onto a flatbed.

"Ouch!" Judy and Jerome gave each other a glance.

"You had a very nasty crash." Judy tried to be sensitive.

"I've never seen an engine as dented as you." Jerome added. Judy shot him a glare.

"Hush, Jerome! You'll upset him!" However, Henry didn't even notice, as he heard the sound of a car braking and saw the Fat Controller sprinting towards him, having parked his car alongside the line.

"I came as soon as I heard! What happened? Is he alright?" He was clearly panicked. The driver looked to Henry.

"See for yourself, sir." The Fat Controller approached Henry slowly, climbing up onto the well wagon where he was currently resting. The green engine wheezed as the Fat Controller observed his dented frames and smokebox, and scratched paintwork. Finally, he looked up towards him.

"How are you feeling, Henry?" Henry coughed.

"I've been better, sir…the signal was down, sir." The Fat Controller waved his hand.

"Henry, I know it isn't your fault; it's the ice and snow." Henry suddenly groaned out in pain and the Fat Controller quickly put his hand on his buffer.

"Save your strength, Henry. We'll have you at the Steamworks soon enough." Henry shut his eyes and tried to steady his breathing. The Fat Controller could only look sad as Henry's driver and fireman helped him down from the well wagon. Once he had reached the ground, he looked up at the crew.

"Could I speak with you two for a moment?" The two men nodded, and the Fat Controller quickly pulled them aside so they were out of earshot of everyone. Well, everyone except James, who listened intently.

"…which is why I don't believe our works have the facilities to repair Henry; his damage is just too much." James gasped, but tried to still seem like he wasn't listening. The driver and fireman looked at each other in shock, before the driver spoke up.

"What do you plan to do then, sir?" The Fat Controller sighed.

"I've already scheduled a time to meet with the railway board this afternoon, but…I really don't know. I'm sorry." Tears began to fill James' eyes as the driver and fireman looked at the ground in misery. Finally, the fireman looked up and smiled sadly.

"You're doing everything you can, sir." The Fat Controller appeared on the verge of tears himself, but he steadied his nerves and began to walk towards James. James quickly regained his composure.

"James, do you think you could take Henry to the Steamworks once we devise a temporary fix for your tender coupling." James looked down at his buffers.

"Yes, sir." The Fat Controller turned around and began to walk away.

"Sir?" The Fat Controller turned around to hear James' wavering voice.

"Yes, James?"

"Is Henry going to be alright, sir?" The Fat Controller looked at a loss for words as a tear rolled down James' cheek. Finally, he sighed.

"We'll do what we can." He walked away, leaving James to sit, staring at Henry's well wagon. Finally, as the Fat Controller drove away, James' sad frown turned into an angry scowl.

" _Why, Henry? Why did you have to go and crash and…_ and…" James looked down at his buffers.

"…please, be okay." He received no reply.

* * *

Toby pulled into the platform at the top station to find it practically empty. He sighed heavily as he scanned the empty platform. Elsie snorted.

"You think that after we save them, they'd show a little loyalty!" She grumbled. Henrietta sighed as she looked at the platform.

"Not a single passenger…not even _one._ " Toby scowled.

"Not even _one!_ " Suddenly, the three heard a familiar voice clearing his throat, and looked to see a repaired Graham sneering in the car park, being filled up with passengers. The bus grinned at Toby.

"'ello!" He taunted. Toby went red in the face, but Graham continued before he could respond.

"Never tart ye'd clap de day, aye? De day wha I'd finally club yer, an' they'd finally clap dat you're as useless as a chocolate taypot wi' a bus loike me raun." Toby fumed.

"Listen here, you horrid th-"

"Oi don't 'av ter listen ter yer anymore; oi won. Report came in dis mornin' dat yisser line's closin' down, an' us buses are gonna rule, as we should've from de start." Toby spluttered.

"Our line, closing down? _Never!_ " Graham smirked.

"Keepin' dis place runnin' is 'idin' a dead 'orse, me mucker." Before Toby could respond, Graham honked his horn and rolled away.

"Oi wud say it wus a pleasure, but it wus only really wan for me, wasn't it?" Toby grit his teeth as Graham sped away, laughing. Toby's driver sighed.

"He's right, Toby. The manager told us this morning; we're due to shut down soon." Toby's anger softened into a miserable frown. Henrietta looked down at her buffers. Elsie looked as if she was about to explode from sheer anger.

* * *

Before they knew it, they had taken the last train in their railway's history. They had surprisingly good turnout for the final journey, and the passengers all said goodbye to Toby as he, Henrietta, and Elsie made their way towards their sheds.

"We're going to miss you very much!" One of them called. Elsie snorted.

"And yet you didn't save us when you had the chance…" She growled. Toby simply looked down at his buffers in misery as he heard the sounds of a conversation in the platform.

"I wish this old line didn't have to close down…" A woman said to her husband. Toby sighed.

"So do I…" He muttered under his breath.

* * *

Toby reversed himself, Henrietta, and Elsie into the old wooden shed. Finally, he came to a stop inside, and looked around.

"It feels smaller than usual." He remarked. Henrietta sighed.

"Well, we'll be here for a while, so we might as well get used to it." The driver stepped down from the cab, looking miserable.

"Well, Toby, I suppose this is goodbye until the manager figures out what to do with you. It's been an honor to be your driver." The fireman stepped down from the cab and gave Toby a nod.

"And to be your fireman." Toby smiled.

"Thank you." Toby's crew gave him a smile back, and left the shed, shutting the doors behind them. Toby, Henrietta, and Elsie sat in silence for a while. Finally, Elsie let loose a loud, frustrated scream.

"The manager figures out what to do with us? _Ugh!_ We're going to be scrapped, I'm sure of it!" Henrietta gave Elsie a sharp look.

"Now, don't immediately assume the worst, Elsie. We might be sold on to another railway." Elsie snorted.

"We're _old,_ Henrietta. What would they want with a tram, a carriage, and an old van? We're doomed!" Henrietta began to grow angry.

"Will you _stop_ being so pessimistic all the time? I'm just trying to keep our spirits up!"

"You need to be realistic!"

" _Maybe I don't want to think about it!_ "

"Will you two _stop arguing!?_ " Toby snapped. Henrietta and Elsie quieted down. Elsie sighed.

"Sorry, Henrietta." Henrietta looked down at her buffers, still upset.

"I'm sorry too." Toby stared at the closed shed doors.

"At least we're together." He muttered. Henrietta smiled.

"No matter what happens." Elsie even cracked a small smile.

"We stick together no matter what." Of course, as the trio stayed huddled in their shed, that's all they _could_ do.

* * *

We've officially reached the halfway point, and our main characters are at their lowest points yet. Henry's fate after his horrible crash is unknown, and Toby's line has been shut down. I love the music of _The Flying Kipper,_ and re-adapting the original very atmospheric story into a song sequence featuring, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful of the classic songs in "The Snow Song" was a really fun task, albeit a daunting one I wanted to make sure did the story justice. Upping the stakes on Henry's crash is important for Henry's arc, so I decided to delay the inevitable solution (which most of you probably already know). Meanwhile, on the Toby front, Graham has won for now, and the three are stuck in the sheds. What will happen to them? What will happen to Henry? How are things on the rest of the island of Sodor? Find out the answer to all these questions, and more, in the seventh chapter: "Regular Lawbreaker"!


	7. Regular Lawbreaker

The Fat Controller sat in his office after his meeting with the railway board. He listened to the ticking of the clock as he massaged his temples. He eyed some paperwork on the desk and then groaned in frustration as he remembered how the meeting had ended.

" _Henry has been an irreplaceable asset to the railway ever since we got him his Welsh coal!_ "

" _Yes, but Welsh coal is expensive, Sir Topham…_ "

" _And what you're suggesting in expanding our work facilities just to accommodate Henry just isn't fiscally responsible._ "

" _He can't be repaired here. Period._ " The Fat Controller studied the photos on his desk. One of them was him as a young man standing next to Glynn, another was of him and his mother, another of him with his family. However, down at the end of the desk, the Fat Controller noticed a photo of him standing with another man he hadn't thought about in a while. He picked it up and looked at it, before an idea came into his head. He grinned.

"Yes…of course! Why didn't I think of it before?" Quickly, the Fat Controller picked up the phone and dialed up a number before waiting patiently.

"Yes, operator? Connect me to _William Stanier_!" He waited patiently for a moment before hearing a "hello" on the other end of the line.

"Will! How've you been?…Good, good, Jane's fine…How's the new job? The LMS treating you well?…Yes, it's great to talk to you again too. Could I ask you for something?…As you know, you owe me a favor from back in the Swindon days, and I think I may want to take you up on it…"

* * *

Henry sat on the hoist in the Steamworks, looking dented and considerably sorry for himself. The workmen fussed over him, but Henry knew it wasn't doing any good. Henry looked down at his dented buffers.

"It's no good…you can't repair me, I'm only good for scrap at this point…" However, Henry heard the sound of a car braking and a door shutting, and the Fat Controller ran into the Steamworks.

"That's not quite true, Henry!" Henry raised an eyebrow.

"Sir?" The Fat Controller smiled.

"Henry, we're both aware that keeping you here isn't doing you much good."

"Yes, sir. Am I being scrapped, sir?" The Fat Controller grinned.

"Nothing of the sort! I'm sending you to Crewe, a fine place for sick engines!" Henry's eyes widened.

" _Crewe,_ sir?" The Fat Controller began to get excited.

"They'll give a new shape, with a larger firebox so you won't need special coal anymore!" Henry gasped.

"T-thank you, sir! What an honour, sir!" The Fat Controller held his hand up to silence Henry.

"You deserve a chance to be really useful, Henry. You'll feel as good as new soon enough!" Henry grinned broadly.

* * *

Henry was at Crewe for a long time; all winter, in fact. The snow had melted by the time he came home, and Henry could only take a deep breath of fresh air as he crossed the Vicarstown Bridge to reach Sodor again.

"I'm glad to be home…" He said to himself and continued onwards.

* * *

At Knapford, Percy had just shunted the express into the platform. However, to his surprise, Gordon was nowhere to be seen. Percy saw the Fat Controller waiting with the railway board on the platform and was about to ask the Fat Controller of Gordon's whereabouts when he heard a familiar whistle and gasped.

"Is that… _Henry!_ " Percy rushed alongside the train and saw Henry backing down on the train. He had a new firebox, a different running plate, and looked far stronger than before. Henry smiled warmly at Percy.

"Hello, Percy!" Percy beamed broadly.

"Welcome back, Henry!" Henry chuckled.

"It's good to _be_ back." Percy laughed. The Fat Controller and the railway board walked alongside Henry, and the Fat Controller beamed.

"Welcome back, Henry! Are you ready for the Express?" Henry grinned confidently.

"I was built ready, sir!" The railway board shared surprised glances, but they began boarding the coach. The Fat Controller, however, stayed behind, looking at Henry's new shape with pride.

"Will did a splendid job with you, Henry." Henry grinned.

"Mr. Stanier says hello, by the way, sir." The Fat Controller chuckled before boarding the coaches himself. The guard blew his whistle, and Henry began to set off from the big station. Percy gasped at how heavy and powerful Henry sounded.

"Have a safe trip, Henry! We need to chat when you're back!" Henry whistled back loudly from the junction to confirm that they would. However, as Henry whistled, he passed Gordon pulling a goods train, who winced from the noise.

"He just came back and he's _already_ whistling in stations again…" He grumbled. Henry didn't pay any notice as he thundered out of sight.

* * *

Henry thundered along the main line with the express clattering behind him. His crew shoveled coal into his firebox with ease, and grinned.

"No more Welsh for you, eh, Henry?" The driver asked. Henry smirked.

"No need! I'm strong enough without it!" Henry approached a bridge that went over the line. He whistled loudly to the schoolchildren walking along the top, who all gasped and ran to the edge to try and get a good look at him.

"Is that Henry?" One asked.

"Hi, Henry!"

"He's so big and strong!" Henry grinned happily to himself as he sped along the line, keeping perfectly to time. As Henry rumbled along the line, he rounded a bend and suddenly began to slow down as his eyes widened in awe.

"Wow…" His driver poked his head out of the cab and raised an eyebrow.

"What's up, Henry?" Henry continued to look around, amazed.

"It's… _amazing_." The green engine had rolled straight into a forest filled with tall, strong trees filled with green leaves. The express' passengers looked out of the windows of the coaches and marveled at the trees as Henry rumbled along through the forest.

"So peaceful." Henry muttered to himself as he listened to the sound of the birds echoing through the trees. Finally, his driver hung out the cab and chuckled.

"Come on, Henry, we still have passengers on board!" Henry sighed and began to speed up again.

"Tell you what though, Henry, why don't we come back when we have no work? Wouldn't that be nice?" Henry smiled again as he left the forest behind.

"Yes, it would." He whistled loudly and rumbled onwards with the coaches clattering along behind him.

* * *

Henry returned to Knapford with the express at the end of the day, braking gently to a halt in the platform. As the Fat Controller and the railway board disembarked, Henry heard them talking.

"I have to say, Sir Topham, I do apologize for doubting you. Henry's new strength is sure to be an asset." A board member that Henry recognized as Mr. A. W. Dry walked alongside the Fat Controller across the platform. The Fat Controller grinned.

"No worries, Mr. Dry. Will's a genius; if there's anyone you should be thanking it's him!" Mr. Dry chuckled.

"I suppose so. We should send him something nice…chardonnay, perhaps?" As the board left, the Fat Controller walked back towards Henry. He stopped on the platform and admired his number 3's new shape with pride. He tried to find words, but simply smiled.

"It's good to have you home, Henry." Henry grinned as the Fat Controller turned around and walked away from his office. As Henry simmered happily, Gordon, James, and Percy watched him from the other side of the station. Gordon snorted loudly.

"Look at him with his 'new shape'." He grunted. James raised an eyebrow.

"I would think that you'd be happy, Gordon. With Henry being strong now, I'm sure he'll be able to do way more of the goods work." Gordon rolled his eyes.

"That may be so, little James, but he's sure to become full of himself soon. I just know it." Percy chuckled and smirked at Gordon.

"That's rich coming from you, Gordon!" Gordon simply scowled as Percy and James laughed.

* * *

The following day, Henry rolled into Elsbridge with his early morning train. Thomas gasped with delight as he saw Henry pulling into the platform.

"Henry, you're back!" Henry smiled.

"Yes, Thomas, I am! How've you been?" Thomas grinned.

"The branch line's been running as usual, Henry. How was Crewe?" Henry chuckled.

"Lovely, but I'm glad to be home."

"We're glad to have you home too, Henry." Annie piped up.

"Agreed." Clarabel added. Henry beamed before the guard's whistle blew and he began to leave the station.

"See you three around!" He called. Thomas smiled to himself.

"Now that Henry's sorted out, I can ask the Fat Controller about Glynn!" He muttered, and whistled before beginning to head down the branch line.

* * *

As Thomas puffed along his branch line, he found himself passing a cottage that he knew rather well. He gasped excitedly and looked back to his driver.

"Driver! Can we whistle hello to Mrs. Kyndley, please?" The driver smiled.

"Certainly, Thomas. I'm sure she'd appreciate it." As Thomas rolled past Mrs. Kyndley's cottage, he let loose two short blasts of his whistle. Sure enough, an elderly woman in a green robe opened her window and waved hello to Thomas.

"Good morning, Thomas!" She called, albeit not incredibly loud. Thomas heard her nonetheless and whistled back again, causing her to smile, before sneezing and shutting the window again. Thomas frowned.

"Mrs. Kyndley's been sick a long time…" Clarabel commented.

"I do hope she gets better soon." Annie added, and Thomas agreed as they rolled onwards through the tunnel.

* * *

Down at Ffarquhar, Thomas braked into the platform before excitedly rolling over towards a sleeping Glynn. Thomas whistled loudly to wake him up, startling the old "Coffee Pot" awake.

"Eh? I'm up! I'm up! What is it?" Thomas chuckled.

"Wake up, lazybones! You're sure to be back at work soon! I'm up to the quarry with a train of trucks today, but soon enough, you'll be the one taking the trucks! Won't that be lovely, Glynn?" Glynn appeared doubtful, but simply smiled.

"If you say so, Thomas." He replied. Thomas reversed towards his trucks on the siding adjacent to Glynn and whistled before rolling away.

"See you later, Glynn! See you later, Annie and Clarabel!"

"Goodbye, Thomas!" The coaches called as Thomas headed down the line with his trucks towards the quarry. Glynn kept up a smile as Thomas rolled away, but as soon as he was out of sight, he looked down at his buffers and sighed.

* * *

Thomas pulled the trucks up the line towards the quarry. The line up to the quarry travels alongside the road, and he is always careful to whistle here. As Thomas approached the crossing, he saw a large policeman he had never seen before waiting by the crossing, leaning back in a chair. Thomas raised an eyebrow.

"I guess they replaced Constable Brown since he retired…good for him." Thomas blasted his whistle to greet the policeman, but to his surprise, the policeman snorted awake as he fell out of his chair, startled. Quickly, the policeman sprung up as Thomas braked to a stop.

"Oh no! Sorry, Mr. Constable, I didn't realize you were asleep! Are you alright?" The policeman snorted and wiped the dust off his uniform. He shot Thomas a glare.

"Well, this is just _disgraceful,_ isn't it? I didn't sleep a wink last night, and thought that I'd be able to get some rest! But _no,_ first day on the job and already engines are coming up behind me and…and…and _whistling!_ Do you think this is funny? I am Constable Malcolm E. Booker, darn it! I deserve respect!" The policeman shouted, turning red in the face. Thomas felt rather awkward.

"Erm, sorry, constable. I was just trying to say hello." Constable Booker glared at Thomas again, before looking at his wheels and jumping back.

"Good _grief!_ " Thomas gasped.

"What? What's wrong?" The policeman pointed at Thomas' wheels.

"Where are your cowcatchers?" He barked. Thomas simply gave him a blank stare.

"Your cowcatchers! Where are they?" He repeated. Thomas continued to look confused, but piped up.

"I, um, don't catch cows, constable." Constable Booker leapt onto Thomas' running board and pointed his finger right at Thomas' nose.

"Don't be _funny._ " He snapped. Thomas' driver and fireman, watching from the cab, gave each other a baffled glance. The policeman hopped down from the running board and promptly whipped out a notebook and pen.

"No sideplates either…" He muttered, writing something down in the notebook. The driver stepped down from the cab and approached the constable.

"Constable, surely there's been a mistake; there's never been a problem before." The driver jumped back and held his hands up as Constable Booker promptly whipped out his nightstick and held it in his face.

"Engines going on public roads must have their wheels covered and a cowcatcher in front to protect people and animals from being dragged under the wheels if they stray onto the line. You haven't cowcatchers _or_ sideplates, so you are dangerous." Thomas looked startled, but the driver snorted.

"Look here! We've been along this line hundreds of times and never had an accident!"  
" _Hundreds of times?_ That makes it worse!" He promptly turned around and scribbled something in his book. Thomas could see over his shoulder that it read "REGULAR LAWBREAKER" in huge letters. Constable Booker whipped around again.

"Now, back to the station before I write you up for something else!" The driver spluttered.

"We have a train to deliver! This is ridiculous!" The constable held up his nightstick to the driver's nose again.

"I assure you, sir, that nothing about the _law_ is ridiculous!" He snapped. The driver snorted, climbed back into the cab, and began reversing Thomas back to the station. Thomas frowned and looked at his buffers.

"Oh dear…the Fat Controller won't be happy."

* * *

He wasn't. He was having a breakfast of toast and marmalade with his wife when he got the call. The butler walked in.

"Excuse me, sir, you're wanted on the telephone." The Fat Controller raised an eyebrow.

"Can it wait? I've just started!" The butler shook his head.

"It's urgent, sir." The Fat Controller sighed.

"Very well. Excuse me, dear." He left his wife at the table and went to pick up the phone.

"Bother that telephone…hello?" He asked, and promptly listened to the entire explanation of the problem. He groaned in frustration.

" _Are you_ …very well, I'll be down at Ffarquhar as soon as I can." He hung the phone up and quickly went to grab his coat.

"Is something wrong, Topham?" His wife called. The Fat Controller sighed.

"Thomas is in trouble with the police and I must head to the station at once. Sorry to leave you, Jane." Lady Hatt sighed.

"Duty calls, honey."

"Love you!" The Fat Controller called as he left. Lady Hatt chuckled and continued eating her breakfast.

* * *

The Fat Controller parked in the Ffarquhar car park and walked onto the platform, finding Thomas and his crew waiting with the trucks with the policeman pacing up and down the platform. The Fat Controller raised an eyebrow.

"So what's the problem then, driver?" The driver sighed.

"Constable _Booker_ claims that Thomas needs cowcatchers and sideplates to go up the road to the quarry, otherwise he's 'dangerous to the public'." The Fat Controller snorted.

"That law was repealed years ago! What on earth does that policeman think he's playing at? 'Dangerous to the public', indeed!" He stomped down the platform to speak to Constable Booker.

"Excuse me, constable, but what exactly is the problem?" Constable Booker glared at the Fat Controller.

"One of your engines is _breaking the law,_ that's the problem! Putting people and animals in danger…you ought to be ashamed of yourself for being complicit in such _amoral_ activity." The Fat Controller rolled his eyes.

"With all due respect, constable, barely anyone uses that road, and I've _certainly_ never seen people or animals wandering around there. I think you're just jumpy because you're bored with your new assignment. Now, if you could kindly-"

"Don't talk back to me, top hat man!" Constable Booker snapped. The Fat Controller was taken aback.

"I beg your pardon?"

"The law is the law! We can't change it! Now, I recommend you procure some _cowcatchers_ and _sideplates_ for this tank engine as soon as possible, or I will be forced to take _further action!_ " The Fat Controller spluttered.

"This is utterly ridiculous! You're citing us on an outdated law!" The constable got up in the Fat Controller's face and glared.

" _Criminals like you make me sick._ " He whispered, shaking his head. The Fat Controller, fed up, threw his hands in the air and walked back down the platform towards Thomas and his crew.

"It's no use arguing with that one. I suppose the only course of action is to give Thomas cowcatchers and sideplates… _unbelievable._ " Thomas winced, but spotted Glynn watching the situation from his siding.

"Sir, I don't want cowcatchers and sideplates! Everyone will laugh and say I look like a _tram_!" The Fat Controller's eyes lit up and he began to think. Thomas didn't notice and kept talking.

"However, sir, I think there is someone who'd be much more suited for work in the quarry! He's just been sitting around doing nothing for a long time…" The Fat Controller appeared deep in thought.

"Yes…"

"He's a very hard worker, sir, and I'm sure he'd really appreciate it if he was able to be really useful again." The Fat Controller beamed.

"Of course!" Thomas gasped and grinned.

"Sir! Does that mean you're repairing Gl-"

"We need a _tram engine!_ " Thomas' face fell.

"What?"

"Why didn't I think of it before?"

"What are you talking about, sir?"

"When I was on holiday in East Anglia, I met a hardworking little tram engine called Toby and his coach, Henrietta! Buses and lorries have been taking all their traffic, but Toby is perfect for this job! He's got cowcatchers _and_ sideplates, and has a ton of experience with trucks! He's _perfect!_ I'll phone his superintendent immediately!" Quickly, the Fat Controller ran back to his car and drove away to his office to make the call, leaving a dumbfounded Thomas behind.

"But…but…Glynn?" Thomas forced out, but the Fat Controller was already gone. Thomas saw Glynn sigh in his siding, and looked down at his buffers in guilt.

"Oh no…"

* * *

Henry has received his new shape, and the Fat Controller has had the idea to bring Toby to the island! Act 2 of this story begins with this chapter, kicking off each of Henry and Toby's arcs coming back on top. We've also introduced the gag character of Constable Booker and shown the sickly Mrs. Kyndley in her cottage. However, Toby coming to the island means that Thomas' plan of returning Glynn to service by having him work on the quarry line has been formally shot down...how will he take Toby's arrival? How will Gordon act towards Henry now that he's received a new shape? Will Toby's arrival on Sodor go off without a hitch? Find out the answers to all these questions in more in the eighth chapter: "We Just Don't Do It"!


	8. We Just Don't Do It

As the sun shown in the sky above, Graham sneered at the old wooden shed from the comfort of his bus stop nearby the old railway line. He, at first, smirked confidently at it. However, as the birds chirped in the morning glow, Graham very quickly found himself annoyed with the shed, and glared at it.

"'Tis not as funnay whaen auld Toby canny foight back…" He muttered under his breath. He continued to stare at the shed, which simply sat and didn't respond because it was a shed. The bus narrowed his eyes.

"Stop _mockin'_ me." He grunted. As he continued to have his standoff with the shed, he failed to notice two men sprinting towards it and opening the back door. However, he _did_ notice the noise from inside; he heard muffled shouting and an excited gasp, but couldn't make out any words. He raised an eyebrow.

"Aye? What's 'eadin' on in dare den?" He rolled quietly closer to the shed doors, parking just alongside the rails, trying to listen in. However, he wasn't sitting long when he heard the familiar ring of a bell and the shed doors triumphantly burst open.

"GAH!" Graham jumped back in surprise. Toby charged out of the shed with Henrietta and Elsie in tow, covered in dust but with an enormous grin on his face. He rolled through a puddle on the line, splashing mud all over Graham. The bus coughed and spat furiously as Toby rang his bell again.

"Morning, Graham!" Toby called. Graham stuttered for a moment before scowling to himself and speeding away, still covered in mud. Toby pulled into the platform of the old station and beamed happily as his driver and fireman stepped out of the cab and onto the platform.

"I can't believe it! We've been saved!" Henrietta cheered. Toby beamed.

"A chance to be really useful again! We won't have to worry about buses or lorries or… _anything_ anymore!" Elsie laughed, smiling from buffer to buffer.

"Well, what does he need us for? Come on, read the letter!" She called to the driver. Toby's driver took the letter out of his pocket, unfolded it, and began to read.

" _To whom it may concern; a crisis has recently presented itself on my railway. There appears to be some confusion with local law enforcement over policy and I have found myself needing to purchase a tram engine to work along a tramway that runs to and from a quarry. I came and rode on this railway while on holiday with my family and met Toby while I was there, and he should be perfect to fill my needs. Once this letter has been received and the necessary arrangements have been made, I look forward to seeing Toby and Henrietta (she'll have plenty to do carrying workmen) on Sodor! Signed, Sir Topham Hatt, controller of the North Western Railway._ " Toby grinned.

"A quarry! Tons of work!" Henrietta smiled happily.

"We're working again!" She laughed. However, they noticed that someone wasn't celebrating. Toby looked towards the back of the train.

"Elsie, is something wrong?" The luggage van seemed unusually quiet. She looked down at her buffers.

"…can you repeat the end of the letter again?" She asked, her voice small and hoarse. The driver looked down.

" _I look forward to seeing Toby and Henrietta…_ oh, no." Toby gasped.

"What? Elsie, you're being ridiculous! I'm sure that you-"

"He asked for you two, not me." Elsie replied. Henrietta stammered.

"Elsie, we're a team and always have been! We can't just leave without you!" The fireman scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"You two are the only ones with clearance; Elsie has to stay." Toby snorted.

"There must be some mistake! Sir Topham Hatt surely wouldn't-"

"He never met me, Toby; I was in the works." Elsie cut in. Toby stammered for a moment, unsure of how to respond, but the luggage van cut him off. Henrietta, however, remained steadfast.

"Elsie, we would never leave you behind! If he wants us, he's going to have to have all of us! We'll have to stay beh-"

"Are you out of your _mind_?" Elsie snapped, startling both Toby and Henrietta. The luggage van sighed.

"Yes, I'm obviously upset, but don't let that stop you from taking this opportunity, Toby! You're still useful and have years left of work in you, even if they don't involve me. Go on! You have a job to do and you shouldn't let me hold you back!" Elsie remained strong, despite her voice slightly wavering. Toby's driver folded the letter up and put it back in his pocket.

"We better get going soon or we'll miss our road; we have a long journey ahead of us." As he walked back into the cab, the fireman used a shunter's pole to uncouple Elsie from Henrietta before reentering the cab himself. Toby slowly began reversing back towards the shed before gently stopping and allowing Elsie to slowly roll inside. She hit the buffers with a quiet "tink" and looked up.

"On you go then." She said. Henrietta looked down at her buffers, miserable, before regaining her composure and looking back up at Elsie.

"We'll miss you." She forced out, trying to keep her emotions from bubbling over. Elsie smiled.

"I'll miss you too. Good luck. Work hard for me." With that, the fireman shut the doors, leaving the little luggage van inside the shed. Toby watched the shed doors intently. Henrietta cleared her throat.

"Off we go, Toby." She almost whispered, still trying not to cry. Toby took a deep breath in and out before ringing his bell and starting his journey towards Sodor.

* * *

As Toby began his long trek, the engines at Tidmouth Sheds had slept and were waking up for their first jobs. Gordon was the first to be ready, and simmered happily in the morning sun.

"Ah, another day at the head of the express! Nothing like being the backbone of the railway, eh?" Gordon sat with his eyes gloatingly shut, waiting for a response. However, he didn't receive one, and raised an eyebrow.

"What's happening?" He muttered, and looked towards the other end of the shed. He rolled his eyes at what he saw.

" _Obviously…_ " Rolling through the shed doors was Henry, who took a deep breath of the fresh morning air and sighed happily.

"Good morning, everyone!" Percy grinned from his berth.

"Good morning, Henry! How are you feeling?" Gordon rolled his eyes as Henry beamed.

"I feel spectacular, Percy! With my new shape, I feel like I can do anything!" James chuckled as he nervously rolled out of his berth.

"You are pretty strong now; you probably could!" Henry smiled, but Gordon snorted.

"Oh, why not go on about your 'new shape' for the umpteenth time! Not like we've heard it every day!" Percy shot Gordon a nasty glare.

"What are you boileraching about now, Gordon?" Gordon scoffed.

"Why should Henry have a new shape? A shape good enough for me is good enough for him! He goes gallivanting off, leaving us to do his work, and comes back saying how happy he feels; it's disgraceful!" Henry raised an eyebrow.

"Gordon, I could barely function on a _good_ day in my old sha-"

"And there's another thing: Henry whistles too much! No _respectable_ engine ever whistles loudly at stations. It isn't wrong, but _we just don't do it_!" It was Henry's turn to scoff, offended.

"The passengers like my whistling! All I'm doing is saying hello!" However, his anger turned to sadness as he looked back at Percy.

"Do they really not like my whistling?" He whispered, not wanting to look vulnerable in front of Gordon. Percy smiled warmly.

"Of course not; they love it, and so do I! Everyone's glad to have you home again." He whispered back, giving Henry a cheeky wink. Henry smiled, but his mood quickly changed as he saw Gordon rolling onto the turntable.

"Goodbye, Henry! We are glad to have you with us again, but remember what I said about whistling!" Henry frowned again. Percy was about to speak up before Gordon whistled as he puffed away.

"I need my coaches, Percy!" The tank engine rolled his eyes before following behind, grumbling to himself. As Henry sat in the sheds, he heard James quietly clearing his throat.

"Henry?" The red engine seemed rather fidgety and nervous. Henry raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, James?" James struggled to look Henry in the eyes as he forced out what he was trying to say.

"I'm…sorry I took your Welsh coal. I didn't mean to cause your accident, I just didn't want to be cold anymore and I didn't think and I'm so so so sorry-"  
"James, it's alright! I'm not cross with you at all!" Henry smiled. James stopped his apologetic babbling and raised an eyebrow incredulously.

"You're not?" Henry chuckled.

"No, of course not! Good came out of my accident; I wouldn't have gotten my new shape otherwise! Besides, there could have been any train in the loop; the accident was caused by ice and snow! Besides, you helped raise the alarm and complete the rescue, and who knows how long I could have sitting in the snow without you there!" James cracked a small smile.

"Really?" Henry grinned.

"You helped me out, James. You rose to the occasion by being ready for anything; no need to apologize for that." Just then, Henry's crew arrived.

"Come on, old boy, we have a train to pull!" Henry smiled.

"Of course; see you later, James!" He whistled and pulled out of the sheds, leaving James behind.

"…ready for anything…I am, aren't I?" The red engine muttered, impressed with himself.

* * *

At Vicarstown station a few hours later, Gordon sat waiting impatiently with his next express train, grumbling to himself.

"Henry in his new shape…whistling…harrumph." Suddenly, Gordon heard the ringing of a bell and raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Who's riding a bicycle here?" It wasn't a bicycle; it was a peculiar little engine who Gordon had never seen before. He was boxy, made of worn-out wood, and looking around the enormous station in complete awe as he pulled an old carriage along behind him. Gordon cleared his throat after watching the engine for a few moments.

"Is there something I can help you with?" He asked, nonplussed. The engine, startled, jumped back before looking at him.

"Yes, can you tell me where Knapford is?" Gordon rolled his eyes.

"And why do you want to know?" He grunted suspiciously. The engine gulped, but a voice came from the carriage behind him.

"We're here to work for Sir Topham Hatt! I'm Henrietta, and this is Toby!" Toby smiled nervously, still taken aback by the bustling station.

"Hello." Gordon, however, wasn't feeling very friendly.

"Well, _Toby_ and _Henrietta,_ Knapford is at the other end of the line, so I suggest that you wait for me to head off with my express before you continue; wouldn't want you to get in my way." Gordon's driver poked his head out of the cab.

"We better get going, Gordon! If you're late, the Fat Controller may give your next train to Henry!" Gordon groaned.

"Perish the thought! Imagine him, rolling along without a care in the world, whistling in stations-"  
"What's wrong with whistling in stations?" Toby interrupted. Gordon shot him a glare that shut him up instantly.

"Sorry." He blushed, embarrassed. Gordon smirked.

"If you're going to be working here, little Trent-"

"Toby." The tram engine corrected. Gordon glared.

"If you're going to be working here, little _Toby,_ you should learn to stay out of my way! I am fastest, best, and pull the express!" The guard's whistle blew and Gordon thundered out of the station, leaving Toby behind. The tram engine snorted as Gordon drew out of sight.

"I hope they all aren't that rude…" He muttered. Henrietta, however, remained smiling.

"Brave face, Toby." She soothed. Toby looked at the main line ahead.

"We better get going to Knapford." With that, he rang his bell and headed slowly down the main line, pulling Henrietta behind him.

* * *

Henry pulled into Wellsworth with his local train with a whistle when he heard a familiar whistle that caused him to break out into a grin.

"Edward!" Edward beamed right back as he pulled into the other platform with a train from his branch line.

"Henry, I can't tell you how good it is to hear your whistle again! It's been ages since we've had time to talk!" The green engine laughed.

"Thanks on my whistle, good to hear somebody likes it after having Gordon go on a rant about it this morning!" Edward raised an eyebrow.

"Gordon's at it again? Why-" Suddenly, they heard a shrill noise echoing from outside the station. Henry raised an eyebrow.

"Can you hear that?" Edward listened intently.

"Sounds like Gordon." The shrill noise began to get louder.

"Ought to _be_ Gordon, but Gordon never whistles like that." Suddenly, they heard the sound of wheels pounding the rails and sure enough, Gordon himself thundered around the curve, red in the face with embarrassment and his whistle blaring full-blast without stopping. He tried to avoid making eye contact with Edward and especially Henry as he sped through. As his screaming whistle disappeared into the distance, Henry chuckled.

"It isn't wrong, but we just don't do it." He mused.

* * *

Gordon rocketed along the main line, his whistle blaring full-blast. He groaned as his coaches trundled along behind him, seemingly eternally followed by the screaming noise.

 _Engines all have whistles, as everybody knows._

 _And as they leave the station, you'll hear the whistle blow._

Gordon thundered underneath a footbridge, where some boys were watching him pass. They plugged their ears as he approached and groaned at the noise. Gordon got even redder and sped up, trying to get out of sight as fast as possible.

 _Speeding down the hillside, the whistle's blown with pride,_

 _Driver_ _checks the signal, and whistles one more time._

At Wellsworth, Edward and Henry were happily joking about Gordon when they heard an unfamiliar bell coming down the line, and each of them raised an eyebrow as the oddest engine they had ever seen came trundling down the line.

 _Engines, blow your whistles; Toby, ring your bell._

 _Gordon and Henry, Edward as well,_

Toby rolled through Wellsworth, pulling Henrietta along behind him. When he saw Henry and Edward staring at him, he turned red and tried to speed up. Being a small tram engine, Toby could not go very fast, and as a result he could only try and avoid their gazes as he trundled along.

 _Engines, blow your whistles and let's all have some fun!_

 _Engines, blow your whistles; Let's hear the whistle song!_

As Toby finally exited the platform, he let out a sigh of relief before ringing his bell and continuing onwards, not knowing of Gordon's predicament in front of him.

 _Every whistles different; No two will sound the same,_

 _It helps to warn of danger if something's in your way._

Bertie was waiting at a crossing when he heard Gordon's shrill whistle blasting from down the line. Thinking he was close, Bertie reversed off of the crossing, but Gordon didn't appear no matter how loud the whistle got. Bertie looked both ways down the line, without Gordon in sight.

 _Whistles are important, as every engine knows,_

 _Clear the line ahead now, when the whistle blows!_

He inched slowly forwards, but suddenly heard Gordon's wheels pounding the rails and reversed just in time to allow Gordon to speed by. He scowled at the big engine as his coaches disappeared into the distance. Suddenly, he heard a bell and his eyes were directed back up the line and he saw Toby, slowly and nervously approaching.

 _Engines, blow your whistles; Toby, ring your bell,_

 _All the other engines, blow yours_ _as well._

Bertie looked Toby up and down with interest, but Toby didn't like being looked at, especially by a bus, and as a result tried to speed up.

 _Engines, blow your whistles and let's all have some fun,_

 _Engines, blow your whistles; Let's hear the whistle song_

As Toby rumbled through the crossing, Bertie honked a friendly hello to him. This startled him, and as a result he accidentally bumped Henrietta.

"Sorry!" He hissed back to her as he rolled out of sight, leaving Bertie confused at his lack of response.

 _One long whistle means coming up fast,_

 _Two in the fog, give two short blasts._

Gordon finally approached the big station, his whistle still blaring when he saw that Thomas and James were sitting in the platforms with their trains. Percy was shunting trucks nearby as well, and all could hear Gordon's loud whistle.

 _One, two, three, means clear up the line_

 _Let's blow our whistles one more time!_

Gordon tried to pull into the station as unnoticed as possible…which wasn't easy for him to do with a never-ending blowing whistle. The passengers covered their ears and tried to cram into the coaches. James and Thomas gave each other incredulous looks at the absurd scenario they were witnessing.

 _Engines, blow your whistles; Toby, ring your bell,_

 _James and Percy, Thomas as well._

As Gordon braked into the platform, his whistle echoed throughout the station and the Fat Controller burst out of his office, shocked by the noise.

 _Engines blow your whistles, and let's all have some fun,_

 _Engines blow your whistles, Let's hear the whistle song!_

"Stop that noise!" He bellowed to two nearby workmen, and both sprinted towards Gordon. One helped lift the other onto Gordon's cab roof, where he took a sledgehammer out of his pocket, reeled it back, and slammed it into the whistle valve. The silence was deafening as Gordon's whistle finally stopped, the valve back in place. Gordon grinned sheepishly at the Fat Controller, who promptly facepalmed.

"I don't even want to hear it, Gordon. Go to the shed."

"Yes, sir." Gordon replied quietly, before slowly limping out of the platform. As the big engine rolled out of sight, Thomas, James, and Percy all burst out hysterically laughing, but were interrupted by the sound of a bell. The Fat Controller grinned as he looked out into the junction.

"Toby! Henrietta! A pleasure to see you both!" He called. Toby smiled back as he rolled into the platform, failing to notice that he was right in front of Thomas, who looked him up and down suspiciously as the Fat Controller walked over.

"I trust you two had a safe journey?" He asked. Toby chuckled.

"As safe as can be, sir." He replied. The Fat Controller grinned.

"Excellent. And how are you, Henrietta?" The old carriage smiled warmly.

"I'm lovely, sir. Much better to be here than to be a henhouse, like the stationmaster wanted." The Fat Controller laughed.

"I suppose so! You two must be exhausted from your journey, so go rest for a few hours in the sheds and then I can give you two a primer on your work. You'll be working with Thomas; say hello, Thomas!" Toby jumped when he realized that Thomas was right in front of him, glaring.

"Oh, hello!" Toby greeted nervously. Thomas continued to scowl.

"Hey." He replied coldly. Toby gulped. The Fat Controller looked across the station.

"Percy! Do you mind showing Toby and Henrietta to the sheds?" Percy was startled at being addressed, but smiled.

"Of course, sir! Come on, Toby, you'll love them!" Toby gave a small smile.

"Alright then. See you later then, Thomas." He rang his bell and rolled away to follow Percy. James watched Toby leave with disdain.

"He looks dirty and worn out; not a _proper_ engine at all." He muttered under his breath. Thomas however, watched Toby leave with hatred.

"This should be Glynn's job…" He growled, but didn't say anymore as the guard's whistle blew and he headed off towards his branch line, pulling a nervous Annie and Clarabel along behind him.

* * *

Finally here with a new chapter! Sorry this took so long, life has just been very busy! Toby and Henrietta have now come to the island, but have been forced to leave Elsie behind in East Anglia. This is a twist I planned from the beginning that I'm sure that some of you figured out pretty quickly, but I hope the scene had the emotional impact I was going for with it. We also have now gotten through _Gordon's Whistle,_ which included our third song sequence of the special in the form of the "Whistle Song", a fun little tune that fits the story well, along with giving Toby reason to meet the cast. However, Thomas isn't incredibly fond of Toby due to viewing him as taking Glynn's redemption away from him. How will Toby fit in in his new environment? Will Gordon see the error of his attitude? How will James conduct himself now that he thinks he is "ready for anything", as Henry said? Find all this out and more in the ninth chapter, where our two leads will interact for the first time: "Redemption"!


	9. Redemption

Toby nervously followed the little green engine to the sheds, Henrietta behind him. The tall buildings all along his path seemed to be looming over him, and he felt very, very small in his new environment. Henrietta could sense his discomfort.

"Are you alright, Toby?" She asked. Toby looked back at her.

"Yes, I'm fine, Henrietta. It's just, well…everything's so _big_ here! And did you see the way the other engines looked at us? We don't _belong_ here! We-"

"Toby, we've barely been here a few hours! Yes, it's different, but give it time and we'll think of it as just as much of a home as we did our old line!" Henrietta replied. Toby sighed, but he heard a whistle up ahead and looked up.

"Keep up, Toby!" Percy called from in front of him, having stopped to allow the slowly-moving Toby time to catch up. Toby sped up and soon enough he and Percy continued on towards the sheds.

* * *

"Well, what do you think?" Percy asked. The tram engine looked around the enormous roundhouse and winced.

"It's very, erm…large." He replied quietly. Percy smiled as Toby and Henrietta slowly reversed into the sheds.

"Make yourself at home! The Fat Controller will send-"

"Who?" Toby asked, raising an eyebrow. Percy chuckled, but was clearly taken aback.

"Sorry, _Sir Topham Hatt,_ but everybody calls him 'the Fat Controller'. You're new, you'll get it in time." Toby gave a small smile; it was good that _someone_ was friendly.

"Were you saying something, um-"

"Percy. And yes, I was; the Fat Controller will send Thomas to show you along the branch line after you get some well-earned rest." Toby smiled.

"Thank you, Percy." Percy grinned.

"Sleep well!" He whistled and reversed away. Once Percy was out of sight, Toby heard Henrietta yawn from behind him.

"I hope we can, Toby; I'm exhausted!" Toby chuckled at his coach.

"Get some rest, Henrietta." Toby heard his coach yawn and fall asleep. He tried to shut his eyes and do the same himself, but he couldn't. He looked around the big shed in silence, and felt very, very small.

* * *

A few hours later, Toby was still sitting with his eyes shut when he heard a loud whistle and they popped open with a start.

"Huh?" In front of him was Thomas, who seemed just as annoyed as before. Toby squirmed.

"Oh, hello." He greeted quietly. Thomas sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Come on, we're going to double-head my next branch line train so you can learn the route." He grunted. Toby pulled out of the sheds, and Thomas saw Henrietta behind him. His eyes narrowed.

"She goes at the back." Toby gulped. The trio headed off to the station, Thomas deliberately not making eye contact with Toby.

* * *

Soon enough, Thomas and Toby were pulling Annie, Clarabel, and Henrietta down the branch line. Toby looked around at the farms they passed and smiled.

"This is a lovely branch line, Thomas; reminds me of home." Thomas snorted and was about to respond when he heard a voice coming from a field they were passing.

"Hello, Thomas! Who's your friend?" Terence called. Thomas scowled.

"His name's Toby." He called, not sounding enthusiastic at all. Toby cringed awkwardly, but Terence couldn't really see that.

"Nice to meet you, Toby! Welcome to Sodor!" Toby rang his bell, causing Thomas to scowl. At the rear of the train, Henrietta frowned.

"What a rude engine! How _dare_ he be so…so… _nasty_ to Toby!" The coach in front of her cleared her throat.

"If you knew _why_ Thomas was so upset, my dear, you wouldn't be saying that!" The brake coach replied. The one in front of her scoffed in a voice far deeper.

"Quite right, Clarabel! I don't think _Harriet_ has any right to be criticizing Thomas when she and _Toby_ are here." Henrietta scowled.

"My name is _Henrietta,_ and if Thomas is upset about something concerning _my_ Toby, I would appreciate it if you could tell me what it is so I can resolve the situation." Annie and Clarabel were taken aback. Annie stammered for a moment before speaking again.

"Not our place to tell."

"Yes, indeed, Annie. Not our place at all." Clarabel added. Henrietta sighed and stared down at her buffers as the train rolled on.

* * *

The train reached Ffarquhar soon enough, and Toby took Henrietta off the train before preparing to go onward to the quarry. As Toby rolled onto the quarry line, he could notice Thomas still glaring daggers at him. He braked to a stop before looking at the tank engine.

"Any advice? For the quarry route, I mean." He asked, knowing how awkward it was. Thomas gave a glance to a siding that Toby couldn't see, and for a moment his eyes became sad. Before Toby could say anything, Thomas' gaze snapped back to him.

" _Come off the rails so you can go home…_ " The tank engine muttered, before speaking in his full voice.

"Look out for Constable Booker; he's a stickler, so he can be trouble." He grunted. Toby smiled.

"Thanks." Thomas rolled his eyes.

"Yeah. Thanks." The guard's whistle blew and Thomas, Annie, and Clarabel headed back up the branch line, leaving Toby and Henrietta behind. Toby watched Thomas leave before looking back at the line ahead.

"Well, Henrietta, we better get going." Henrietta, behind him, watched Annie and Clarabel leave with irritation, and thus didn't respond. Toby raised an eyebrow.

"Henrietta?"

"Hm? Sorry, Toby, just-"

"I know, I know. Me too." Toby rang his bell and began heading towards the tramway. As they left, Henrietta saw a splash of red in some bushes behind the station, but didn't think anything of it.

* * *

Toby liked the route up to the quarry. It was relatively quiet, and there wouldn't be anyone around to criticize him. He collected his trucks and headed back down the route, with Henrietta sitting between him and the train. On Toby's way, he spotted a policeman, fast asleep, sitting nearby a crossing. Toby cringed.

"That must be the constable; I better be quiet…" Carefully, Toby slowly rolled by the sleeping constable, not waking him up and thereby continuing to avoid the wrath of Constable Malcolm E. Booker. Once he was out of range of the constable, he let out a sigh of relief and continued along his way, not disturbing the constable's nap.

* * *

Soon enough, Toby and Henrietta had found themselves a routine, and worked hard. In the morning, they would pick up the workmen to take them up to the quarry. They would then pick up stone trucks from the quarry, and take them to the junction for another engine to take away. Along the way, they would complete whatever other work they were given without fuss. However, despite how hard Toby worked, the other engines just didn't seem to want him around.

"Oh, great. That _dirty object_ is here." Toby heard James mutter as he pulled into the platform with Henrietta in tow. Toby could hear the coach about to chew James out behind him, and thus cleared his throat, calming her down. It wasn't just James; Gordon wouldn't even say hello to Toby when he passed by the express!

"Oh, good morning!" Toby called from the station as the big blue engine thundered past, simply ignoring him. Unbeknownst to Toby, Gordon wasn't paying attention to him and was simply grumbling to himself.

"Stupid whistle…stupid Henry…" He muttered. Toby frowned. However, worst of all was Thomas. The blue tank engine simply refused to be friendly to Toby in any way, and would often give him dirty looks when they saw each other at the station.

"Hey, Thomas! What are you-" Toby was interrupted by Thomas blowing his whistle and rolling away.

"I was just leaving." Toby sighed and stared at his buffers as Thomas rolled by.

* * *

About a week later, Toby and Henrietta pulled into Elsbridge with a train of stone trucks from the quarry. The stationmaster ran up.

"Ah, don't get rid of your trucks just yet, Toby. The engine supposed to bring them to the shunting yards is running late; do you think you can just take them on your own?" Toby winced.

"Well, erm-"

"Of course we can!" Henrietta replied. The stationmaster smiled.

"Splendid! Thank you!" He wrote something down on his clipboard before walking away. Toby scowled.

"Why did you do that?"

"Because neither you nor I want to be near Thomas and his two coaches, and this gets us away from the branch line." Henrietta said simply. Toby sighed, rang his bell, and headed off towards the yard with his trucks.

* * *

Toby reached Knapford in due time, and was soon enough reversing his trucks onto a siding. He was just about to leave when Percy whistled loudly and sped by, sandwiched between two express coaches. He saw Toby and grinned, braking to a quick stop.

"Toby! Am I glad to see you! I've got a backlog and I don't have time to shunt Henry's goods train. Do you think you could do it?" Toby smiled.

"Sure, Percy." Percy beamed.

"Thanks!" He dashed away. Toby looked around the yard before looking back to Henrietta.

"Do you want a rest in the carriage shed while I shunt this train?" Henrietta chuckled.

"Sure, Toby. That'd be lovely." Toby smiled again, and moved Henrietta into the back of the carriage shed before ringing his bell and heading on his way to shunt Henry's trucks.

"I promise I won't leave you behind!" Toby called as he rolled away. However, he realized what he had said, and looked sadly at his buffers as he rounded the bend out of sight.

"Elsie…" Henrietta watched Toby leave and sighed. However, her rest didn't last long. She suddenly heard a familiar whistle and gasped.

"Oh no!" Sure enough, Thomas came reversing towards the shed with Annie and Clarabel behind him.

"I'll collect you two again when I'm back from my goods train!" Thomas called as he left Annie and Clarabel alongside Henrietta. They hadn't noticed she was there, so they waited with bated breath.

"Of course, Thomas!" Annie called.

"Have a fun time, Thomas!" Clarabel added. Thomas blew his whistle and rolled away, leaving Annie and Clarabel inside the shed. Clarabel looked around before spotting Henrietta. Her gaze narrowed for a moment, but Henrietta remained quiet, so Clarabel simply cleared her throat.

"Oh, hello, Henrietta." She greeted coldly. Annie looked back before scowling herself.

"Henrietta." Henrietta smiled nervously.

"Hello." The three coaches sat in awkward silence for a moment. Henrietta took it upon herself to break it.

"How are you two?" The two coaches paused for a moment before Annie spoke.

"Fine. All things considered, fine." Henrietta raised an eyebrow.

"All things considered?" Clarabel rolled her eyes.

"I mean, Thomas isn't very happy at all, and with good reason!"

"Yes, indeed! I'd be upset if someone took an engine's second chance right from under his buffers too! Poor thing was devastated when he found out!" Henrietta raised an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?" Clarabel glared at Henrietta.

"I think you are _fully_ aware, _dear._ " However, Henrietta stood her ground.

"No, I don't think I am." She replied. Annie scoffed.

" _Please!_ You and Toby come here to take a job from another engine, when you could just as easily do work…wherever it is you come from!" Henrietta scowled right back, beginning to get cross.

"No, I don't think Toby could do work back where we come from _just as easily,_ because, in case you didn't know, our line was shut down by buses and lorries taking _our_ work! We sat in a shed for months with no company but each other and our friend, Elsie, whom we had to _leave there!_ We've just been trying to get adjusted to new surroundings, different from everything we have known for our entire lives up to this point, but everyone has just been so rude that Toby can't feel at home! I know _I_ don't! So no, we can't just do work _wherever we come from_ because there _isn't_ any!" Henrietta breathed heavily, expecting the two coaches to fight back. However, she simply saw Clarabel staring at her in horror.

"You…your line was _shut down?_ " The brake coach squeaked. Annie groaned.

"We've been _horrible_ to you, after everything you've been through!" She lamented. Clarabel looked down at her buffers.

"Oh, we are _so_ sorry, Henrietta."

"Thomas was just so upset, and I guess we were upset that _he_ was upset."

"Can you forgive us?" Henrietta was surprised by how genuine the coaches were being, but she gave a small smile.

"Yes, I think I can." Clarabel grinned, and Henrietta could hear Annie laugh happily. Henrietta, however, continued.

"Just one question for you." Clarabel's eyes widened.

"Yes, of course!"

"Anything!" Henrietta frowned.

"Why on earth is Thomas so upset at Toby to begin with?" Annie and Clarabel winced.

"Well, you see, it's a bit of a long story…"

* * *

Toby had just about finished shunting Henry's train when he heard a whistle and saw Thomas puffing past. Deciding to be friendly, he rang his bell, but didn't receive a response. Toby frowned.

"Something wrong?" Toby jumped before looking to the line just to his left. There was a large green engine that Toby had only seen on his first journey to Knapford, raising an eyebrow at him. The tram engine sighed.

"Yes, but I don't think you'd really like to listen." The green engine smiled.

"We all go through a lot when we first arrive, always good to have someone to talk to about it. I'm Henry, by the way. What's your name?" It was Toby's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"I'm Toby. Is this is your goods train then?" Henry chuckled.

"That it would be." Toby eyed the long line of trucks he had shunted and whistled, impressed.

"You must be very strong then; that's a long line." Henry smiled.

"I suppose I am strong, yes. _Now,_ at least." Toby raised an eyebrow, but the big green engine continued.

"How are you liking Sodor?" Toby's eyes drifted to the line Thomas had gone down, and he sighed.

"Truth be told, not very well. Everyone seems to not want me here, and everything is so big and…busy. I miss my old line, but I can't really go back to a line that's closed, can I?" The tram engine stared at his buffers. Henry gave him a sympathetic look before looking back to the trucks. His eyes widened; he had an idea.

"How much time before your next train, Toby?" Toby raised an eyebrow and looked to the clock.

"A few hours; I have to bring the workmen home from the quarry this evening. Why?" Henry smiled.

"Do you want be my back engine? I want to show you something, and it's on our way." Toby was taken aback.

"Um, sure, Henry." Henry grinned.

"Great! The extra help is always nice too!" Toby's eyes drifted back to the carriage shed before smiling.

"Well, I'm sure Henrietta won't mind a few extra hours of rest." He muttered to himself, and headed off towards the back of Henry's train.

* * *

Henry and Toby headed along the main line, working together to keep the trucks moving. Toby hadn't been far down the main line since his first journey, and was amazed at all the things that they passed. As they approached Wellsworth, he heard Henry whistle to a blue engine sitting on a siding.

"Ah, hello, Henry! Want a push up the hill?" Henry laughed.

"No thanks, Edward! I have Toby helping me today!" Edward was surprised, but he still smiled and blew his whistle at Toby as the tram engine rolled past at the rear of the train.

"Nice to see you, Toby!" Toby rang his bell, surprised at how friendly Edward was being. He looked around the trucks and saw the steep hill ahead. He gulped, but Henry kept moving onwards, his confidence not wavering. Henry charged the hill, and Toby soon found himself making a lot of steam just to keep up. They soon enough rolled over the top and coasted down the other side. Toby panted as the line became flat again.

"I don't think I've ever met an engine as strong as you, Henry; you made that look easy!" Henry chuckled.

"It wasn't always like that, Toby." Toby raised an eyebrow.

"How so?" Henry sighed.

"Well, when I was first built, I didn't have this shape at all. I was a hybrid design of two other engines, and I didn't really…turn out that well."

"What do you mean?" Henry looked at his buffers.

"Well, I would have a very hard time building up steam because of my small firebox, and often I felt so ill that I couldn't move at all. I was miserable, and a lot of inspectors they brought in to take a look at me said that I'd be better off as scrap. They gave me new parts, new paints, new…everything, but I just wouldn't run right." Toby gave a sympathetic look.

"Henry, I'm so sorry. That sounds horrible. What happened?" Henry smiled again as they trundled through a station.

"Well, Toby. I got my chance at redemption." Toby raised an eyebrow.

"Redemption?"

"A second chance to be really useful. The Fat Controller gave me Welsh coal even though it was expensive, and soon enough I ran perfectly. As long as I had my coal, I worked perfectly." Toby smiled.

"Well, that's good to hear." Henry frowned.

"Until I had my accident."

"Accident?"

"I went through a danger signal by accident and ended up colliding with a goods train. I took major damage, and thought I was done for. Then they sent me to Crewe, and I came back with a new shape, and now here I am, really useful again!" Suddenly, as Henry passed a signalbox, he blew his whistle, and was soon enough redirected onto a side line. Toby raised an eyebrow as the vegetation got thicker around him.

"Where are we going, Henry?" Henry grinned.

"You'll see!" Soon enough, Toby gasped in surprise at what he was seeing; a thriving forest, full of beautiful, strong, tall trees as far as the eye could see. As Henry and Toby rumbled slowly along, the green engine spoke.

"In the winter, all these trees die in the cold weather, or get chopped down for firewood or furniture, and are reduced to little stumps. However, in the spring, when the weather's warm again, they get a chance to grow and be just as big and strong as they were before. We all have our ups and downs; we just have to take the hurtful things others say to us, or hardships that life places in our path, and use them to help us grow." Toby looked around at the trees and couldn't help grinning.

"Yes, help us grow…" He muttered to himself. Henry chuckled and saw a signal in the distance. As he and Toby steamed out of the forest, the sounds of puffing stopped echoing through the trees, restoring the tranquility of the forest to the simple chirping of birds and the sound of the breeze. Henry looked back at Toby.

"Don't worry about the other engines, they're all just taking out their own frustrations on you. Mention bootlaces to James and it'll shut him up pretty instantly." Toby raised an eyebrow.

"Bootlaces?" Henry chuckled.

"A while ago, he rode so rough with the coaches that he put a hole in the brake pipe; a passenger had to give him a leather bootlace to repair it!" The two engines laughed for a moment before Toby paused.

"Is something bothering Thomas too?" Henry thought for a moment.

"Erm, nothing I know of, but I wouldn't be surprised." Toby frowned, but tried not to let it bother him as he and Henry continued their journey.

* * *

Toby and Henry soon enough dropped off their train and returned to the yards, chatting the entire way. As they separated at a junction, Henry blew his whistle.

"Nice to talk to you, Toby!" He called. Toby smiled.

"Same with you!" He rang his bell back and Henry rolled away out of sight to collect his next train. Toby watched the big green engine leave for a moment before heading over to the carriage shed to collect Henrietta. To his surprise, Henrietta was deep in conversation with Annie and Clarabel. Toby rang his bell to greet her.

"Oh, Toby! You're back!" She called. Toby raised an eyebrow as he reversed towards her.

"You seem energetic." He remarked. Henrietta looked back at Toby determinedly.

"Toby, there's something you have to see at Ffarquhar. Can you take our journey fast so we have time?" Toby raised an eyebrow.

"Erm, alright, Henrietta." The shunter coupled them up and Toby rang his bell before heading on his way.

"Goodbye, Henrietta!" Annie called.

"See you soon!" Clarabel added. Toby raised an eyebrow.

"Since when were you friends with them?" He asked. Henrietta smiled.

"Since this all started making sense." Toby remained confused, but headed onwards towards Ffarquhar.

* * *

Toby soon enough arrived at Ffarquhar, but he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"What are we supposed to be finding, Henrietta?" The carriage scanned the sidings, before spotting the spot of red she had before and grinned.

"There! He's in the bushes!" Toby raised an eyebrow.

"Who's in the bushes?"

"Come on, Toby!" Toby rolled towards the siding that Henrietta had pointed out and gasped at what he found inside.

"Is that…an engine?" Sure enough, Toby was staring at a rusty vertical-boiler engine covered in ivy and vegetation, fast asleep. Henrietta cleared her throat.

"Excuse me?" The rusty engine snorted awake.

"Hm? Yes? Oh, hello, who are you?" Toby simply stared in surprise.

"Um, I'm Toby." The engine smiled.

"Oh, Toby! You're the new engine working the quarry route, aren't you?" Toby blinked.

"Erm, yes, I am."

"A pleasure to meet you. I'm Glynn. How are you enjoying the branch line?" The tram engine remained confused.

"The route is lovely, but Thomas isn't very happy to have me here." Glynn frowned.

"Oh, dear. I suppose he got his hopes up too high…" Toby raised an eyebrow, but Henrietta responded.

"Before we arrived, Toby, Thomas was trying to get Sir Topham Hatt to restore Glynn to work on the quarry line. However, we came instead, and he thinks we took Glynn's job from him; Annie and Clarabel told me in the sheds." Toby winced.

"Oh dear, we really shouldn't be here at all. Glynn, I'm so sorry." The Coffee Pot smiled.

"You did nothing wrong, Toby. I've never worked right, and I knew that Mr.- _Sir,_ I need to stop doing that, Topham Hatt wouldn't restore me. No point in restoring an engine that was wrong to begin with…" Toby saw Glynn looking down at his buffers, looking miserable. He thought for a moment, and then gave a determined look.

"Glynn, I promise that we'll help you. Thomas was right; you do deserve a chance to be really useful again." Glynn raised an eyebrow.

"Really, Toby, you don't-"

"Every engine deserves a chance at redemption, including you." Toby replied simply. Glynn blinked in surprise.

"Erm, alright then, Toby. Thank you." Toby smiled.

"You're welcome." Toby rang his bell and began reversing away from the siding before heading off towards the quarry. Henrietta smiled.

"That was very kind of you, Toby."

"It's not over yet; we still have to find Thomas." Toby replied, and continued on his journey, pulling Henrietta along behind him.

* * *

However, Toby couldn't find Thomas that evening, and still hadn't found him the next day when he pulled into Elsbridge to pick up the quarry workers for the day.

"How can he be this hard to find?" Toby groaned, frustrated. Henrietta sighed.

"Don't worry, Toby, we'll find him eventually." The tram engine sighed.

"I'm sure he's deliberately avoiding me…if only I could speak to him! Then we could talk about getting Glynn restored, and maybe finding a way for him to be really useful!" He lamented. As Toby spoke, he didn't notice James pulling his passenger train into the station, nor the man in the top hat sitting in one of James' coaches with the window open, very interested to listen to the conversation occurring. He _did_ notice James' disdainful scoff as the red engine pulled into the platform, and rolled his eyes in response.

"Oh, lovely. Good morning, James." James snorted.

"How can it be a good morning when I have to see you _dirty objects_? My paint is getting dirty from just being near you! All that old wood… _yech!_ " Toby was about to ignore him, but then thought of what Henry had said and smirked.

"James, why are you red?" He asked innocently. James raised an eyebrow, but smirked boastfully.

"Well, Toby, I am _red_ because _I_ am a _splendid_ engine; ready for anything! You'd never see _my_ paint dirty!" James grinned proudly. Toby smiled innocently.

"Oh, I see. That must be why you once needed _bootlaces;_ to be _ready_ , I suppose." James' eyes nearly popped out in shock as the tram engine gave him a cheeky grin.

"You, what…how did you know that?" He squeaked. Toby playfully raised an eyebrow.

"It's supposed to be a secret?" It was very lucky for Toby that the guard's whistle blew and James stormed off in a huff, as red in the face as he was in his paintwork. Toby and Henrietta laughed as James bustled out of sight.

* * *

"The nerve of that, that…that _shack!_ " James fumed as he pulled into the platform at Vicarstown with his coaches. His driver laughed.

"From the way you've been treating him, I'd say you were asking for it!" James rolled his eyes.

"Ugh, why does that old-fashioned thing think he can just… _insult_ me like that! When I see him next, I swear I-" His fireman chuckled.

"Why don't you think about our next job instead of thinking about Toby, James?" James raised an eyebrow.

"What _is_ our next job?" He asked. His driver took out his timetable and cringed.

"I don't think you're going to like it."

* * *

" _Dirty_ trucks in _dirty_ sidings!? Send Toby to do this job, he'll fit right in with the other dirt!" James fumed as he reversed onto some trucks sitting in the siding. His driver sighed.

"You better get used to it, James, because we have to stop at every station to pick up and let down trucks; slow goods, you know." James groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Slow goods: _my favorite._ " He grumbled through gritted teeth. The shunter coupled James up to his trucks and the red engine headed on his way. On his way out of the yard, he banged the trucks crossly.

"Ouch! Be careful!" One of the trucks snapped. James didn't care; he just kept puffing onwards.

* * *

At every station along the main line, James stopped to have trucks taken off and added to his train. He didn't like the work at all, and would often bump and bang the trucks on his way out of the platform.

"Stop bumping us, you big red brute!" One of James' newest trucks snapped as James left Killdane. Luckily for James' crew, he was so cross with the trucks that he forgot to be cross about Toby. That is, until they reached Maron. As James waited impatiently for the guard's whistle to blow, he heard the voice of a woman on the platform.

"Jeremiah, come on! If you don't finish with your _bootlaces_ soon, we'll miss the train!" James looked and saw a woman in a large green hat with her hands on her hips watching a man in a trenchcoat lace up his boots. The man snorted.

"Margaret, if I've told you once, I've told you twice; do not come between a man and his _bootlaces_!" James scowled as he stared at the hill ahead.

" _Bootlaces…_ I'll pay that Toby out! I'll pay him out!" The guard's whistle blew and James rolled out of the station. However, he didn't hear the trucks snickering behind him.

"Oh no, James, I think _we're_ going to be the only ones paying anyone out around here…" One whispered, and the others giggled in their silly way.

* * *

As James charged up Gordon's Hill, still thinking about what to say to Toby when they next met, the trucks decided to carry out their plan. As he reached the top, his driver began to apply the brakes.

"You know heavy trains have to stop up here, James; we have to let the guard pin down his brakes!" James, however, wasn't paying attention.

"Stupid dirty object…" He muttered. The trucks saw their opportunity and quickly surged against James' coupling.

"Hey!" James cried, startled. However, it was too late. James coasted over the top of the hill and down the other side far too quickly, and had begun to pick up speed.

"On! On! On!" The trucks chorused. James gasped.

"Oh no! I can't stop!" Sure enough, he couldn't. The trucks pushed James down the line as fast as they could. The guard applied the brakes as hard as he could, but it wasn't enough to stop the laughing trucks. James' brakes squealed as he sped through a red signal.

"I've got to stop! I've got to stop!" Wellsworth station came into view, but James could barely process it as he sped into the station and was directed into the yard. Edward, waiting on a siding, gasped in shock as James' goods train screeched by.

"Slow down, James! You're going to crash!" He called. James saw something on the line ahead of him and shut his eyes tightly.

"I can't!" He wailed, and collided with the obstruction. The trucks laughed hysterically as James plowed onwards before finally coming to a stop. Something sticky splashed all over James, and he couldn't see what it was. When he finally opened his eyes, he saw Edward wincing.

"Well, that certainly won't make the roadworks people happy." James gasped as he looked back at his paintwork; he had collided with two tar wagons, and was covered from smokebox to cab in black, sticky tar.

"MY PAINT! IT'S _RUINED!_ " He cried in horror. Edward cringed.

"I'll raise the alarm." Quickly, he bustled away to do so.

"Please hurry! Before it DRIES!" James cried, groaning in horror at the tar all over his paintwork.

* * *

"Thomas? Are you here?" Toby called, searching the shunting yards. Henrietta sighed from behind him.

"He's not here…" Toby frowned, looking at his buffers. Suddenly, however, he heard a whistle, and saw Percy bustling past with the Breakdown Train.

"Emergency!" Judy called.

"Engine off the rails!" Jerome added. Percy saw Toby and braked to a stop.

"Toby, are you busy?" Toby raised an eyebrow.

"No, why?"

"James is off the line, and we need all the help we can get!" Toby gave a determined look.

"Right. You don't mind staying behind, Henrietta?" Henrietta smiled.

"Of course not! Go get 'em, Toby!" Toby grinned right back, rang his bell as he was uncoupled, and quickly buffered up behind Jerome. With Percy in front, the cranes in the middle, and Toby in the rear, the cavalcade sped on their way to rescue James.

* * *

They soon arrived, and wasted no time in clearing up the mess. While Judy and Jerome slowly lifted James back onto the line, Percy and Toby cleared the unhurt trucks away for Edward to take onwards to their destination. When all the trucks were clear and Edward bustled away, Toby finally got a good look at James and had to contain his laughter.

"Look here, Percy! Whatever is that dirty object?" He asked innocently as Judy and Jerome finally managed to place James back on the line. Percy raised an eyebrow as he rolled alongside.

"That's James; didn't you know?" Toby smirked.

"Well, it _is_ James' shape, but it can't be James! He's a splendid red engine! You'd never see _his_ paint dirty!" Toby started laughing, and soon enough Percy joined in too, getting the joke. James just sat in embarrassed silence, pretending he hadn't heard. The tram engine stopped laughing first.

"Come on, Percy, we better help him home!" Percy grinned.

"Right away!" Soon enough, with Toby in front, Percy bringing up the rear, and James sitting silently in the middle, the trio set off for home.

* * *

When they arrived back in the yards, the Fat Controller was waiting for them.

"Well done, Percy! Well done, Toby! You two acted quickly in a crisis and helped clean up a nasty accident!" The two engines grinned.

"Thank you, sir!" They chorused. The Fat Controller then looked to James and his eyes narrowed.

"Fancy letting your trucks run away. I _am_ surprised." James blushed, though it was difficult to tell under the tar.

"Sorry, sir." The Fat Controller sighed and rubbed his temples.

"You're not fit to be seen; you must be cleaned at once." James seemed to shrink back.

"Yes, sir." The Fat Controller then smiled again as he looked back at Toby.

"Toby, I've been meaning to do this for a while, but how would you like a new coat of paint now that you're working on my railway? I think you'll feel more at home with a proper number, for example." Toby beamed.

"Oh, yes sir! Thank you, sir!" However, he hesitated for a moment. The Fat Controller raised an eyebrow.

"Something wrong, Toby?" Toby smiled.

"Well, sir, it's just…can Henrietta have a new coat of paint too?" The Fat Controller laughed.

"Of course! Was just about to suggest it myself! Percy can show you to the Steamworks; now if you excuse me, I have important business to attend to!" He turned on his heels and walked back to his car. As his door shut, Toby gasped.

"Oh, wait, sir! I need to talk to you about Gl-" It was too late; the Fat Controller had already left. Toby sighed. Percy rolled alongside.

"Are we off, Toby?" Toby smiled.

"Yes, of course. Coming!" He rang his bell and followed after Percy to fetch Henrietta, leaving James sitting in the yards alone, covered in tar. He coughed awkwardly once Percy and Toby were out of sight.

"Little lonely…" He murmured to himself.

* * *

The longest chapter yet, and so much has happened! The Toby-Henry scene in the forest was one I've wanted to write for a long time, and I'm very glad I finally got to put in into fruition. _Dirty Objects_ is also one of my favorite Season 1 episodes, and it was a great thrill to adapt into this story. Toby also knows about Glynn now, and is just as committed to helping him as Thomas is, although Thomas doesn't know it quite yet. Toby also will be receiving his number and a new coat of paint next chapter, along with Henrietta receiving the latter. However, although everything seems to starting to shape up well, there is still going to be quite a bit of excitement before the story's conclusion. All I'll tell you all is what's next involves a race, an intense argument, some naughty boys, and a sneeze. What will happen? Find out in the tenth chapter: "Sidings and Sneezes"!


	10. Sidings and Sneezes

Toby puffed into the Steamworks with Henrietta in tow. He was amazed by all the enormous machinery, but couldn't focus on it long as Percy pulled alongside him.

"Just head onto the turntable, Toby, and you'll be repainted there!" Toby looked to the turntable and slowly rolled onto it. Some workmen soon arrived with pots of paint of varying colors and soon enough got to work. His faded wood was given new brown paint and looked just like new, and Toby watched, intrigued, as the workmen carefully painted a number "7" onto his side in red and yellow. His "LNER" lettering was covered up, his black sideplates were repainted grey, and his black roof soon followed. However, Toby wasn't the only one getting changes.

"I haven't looked this good since I was built!" Henrietta marveled at her new orange livery with red bufferbeams. Her railings and frames had been polished, and she looked cleaner than she ever had in her life. Toby chuckled happily as he looked at his own reflection, and smiled at his smart new look. Soon enough, the workmen had finished, and Toby and Henrietta puffed out of the Steamworks. Percy gasped in amazement.

"You two look great!" Toby beamed as he looked back at his number.

"I could get used to this…" He chuckled. Henrietta smiled.

"With a look this good, I never want to go back!" She chortled, and the two, along with Percy, laughed together.

* * *

Toby arrived at Elsbridge in his new livery to collect passengers, where Henry was waiting with his local train. Henry smiled, impressed.

"Someone's looking sharp!" Toby chuckled.

"I feel it! This is the cleanest I've been since I was built!" Henry laughed.

"Well, you certainly wear it well. Heard about your heroics with James; great work!" Toby blushed modestly.

"Thank you, talking to you in the forest really helped me." It was Henry's turn to act modest.

"Don't mention it! Any engine would've done the same." Toby smiled. However, a thought he had been putting off came back to him.

"Henry, you wouldn't happen to have seen Thomas, have you?"

"You just missed him; he's on his way down to Ffarquhar by now." Toby smiled.

"Ah, good. I can talk to him there. Thanks, Henry!" Henry's guard blew the whistle and the big green engine headed on his way, blasting his whistle loudly as he left the station. Toby rang his bell back, and soon enough started down the branch line.

"It's good that we can finally be completely adjusted!" Henrietta remarked as they rolled along. Toby smiled.

"Yes indeed, it's starting to feel like home." However, a thought crossed his mind and his face fell. Henrietta raised an eyebrow.

"What's wrong, Toby? Everything's looking up for us!" Toby smiled sadly.

"I know, it's just…do you think Elsie would've liked it?" Henrietta was caught off-guard, but thought for a moment and smiled.

"Yes, I think she would've." The two continued down the branch line, thoughts of their friend fresh in their minds.

* * *

However, as Toby headed down the branch line, he couldn't stay in his head for long. He was startled by the honk of a horn and looked to see a red bus driving along beside him.

"Hello there! You're Toby, right?" The bus asked. Toby felt rather uncomfortable, but hesitantly responded.

"Erm…yes, I am." The bus grinned.

"I've seen you around but we haven't really had a chance to chat yet; my name's Bertie!" Toby squirmed.

"Nice to meet you, Bertie." He replied, clearly not wanting to have to talk to a bus anymore. Henrietta, observing the situation from behind Toby, raised an eyebrow.

"What does he want?" She hissed quietly.

"No idea." Toby hissed back nervously. Bertie noticed their whispering, but remained undeterred.

"Are you _fast,_ Toby?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. Toby coughed awkwardly.

"I, um…think so?" Bertie smirked.

"I'm _very_ fast; I beat Thomas in races all the time! Fancy a race yourself?" Henrietta raised an eyebrow.

"Is he trying to take our passengers?" She whispered. Toby winced.

"I…don't know?" Bertie cleared his throat.

"Do you want a race or not?" He asked, still smiling but clearly getting somewhat impatient. Toby gulped.

"Alright…s-s-sure." He stuttered. Bertie grinned.

"Great! First one to the level crossing wins! Ready…steady…go!" Bertie blasted his horn and sped off down the road. Henrietta heard the bus rev his engine and looked forward to Toby.

"Come on, Toby! We have to beat him or we'll lose our passengers!" Toby looked nervous at first, but focused his resolve and rang his bell before speeding up to try and catch up with Bertie. Soon enough, the two were side by side. Bertie saw that Toby had caught up and grinned.

"This is really fun, isn't it?" He laughed. Toby simply remained focused on the track, his wheels pounding the rails. Finally, the level crossing came into view, and Bertie grinned.

"I think I'm going to win!" He called. Henrietta glared and looked forward to Toby.

"Come on, Toby! You can do it!" Toby rang his bell and sped up once more, managing to beat Bertie there as he blazed through the crossing. Henrietta whooped and cheered as Bertie waited by the gates. Toby laughed triumphantly.

"I did it! I won!" As Toby and Henrietta slowed down, the gates opened and Bertie drove through the crossing with a smile on his face before driving alongside Toby again.

"That was a good race! Congratulations on the win, Toby!" Toby raised an eyebrow at the bus, as he seemed to be genuinely happy for him.

"You're not…upset?" Bertie chuckled.

"Of course not! It's all in good fun, you know, and I just wanted to make a new friend!" Henrietta's eyes widened in confusion.

"You weren't trying to take our passengers?" Bertie scoffed.

"Of course not; that'd just be silly! I provide you and Thomas with passengers, and you provide me with the same; why would I try to sabotage that when we both get something out of it?" Toby was very caught off-guard, but smiled.

"You're completely right. It was very nice to race you, Bertie." Bertie smiled.

"Same with you, Toby. See you around! Toodle peep!" Bertie honked his horn and turned onto another road, leaving Toby and Henrietta to watch him leave as they rolled further down the line.

"That bus was so nice! Nothing like Graham at all!" Henrietta chuckled. Toby smiled.

"I suppose we shouldn't have let one rotten apple spoil the bunch. Now, come on! We have to get to Ffarquhar to talk to Thomas!" Henrietta laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Of course, Toby!" The duo continued on to Ffarquhar.

* * *

Toby bustled into Ffarquhar and saw Annie and Clarabel waiting in a siding, and could see the back of Thomas peeking out from Glynn's. He braked into the platform and rang his bell before being uncoupled and beginning to puff towards Thomas.

"Thomas! Thomas! I raced your friend Bertie today; really nice chap! I-"

"Oh, so you can't get enough of _replacing_ engines, huh? You couldn't be happy with just one?" Thomas snapped, and as Toby rolled alongside he could see the venomous scowl on his face. Toby raised an eyebrow.

"If you're talking about Glynn, I want t-"

"Of _course_ I'm talking about Glynn! You come here and take the job that _he_ should've been restored to have, and now you've sent him off to the scrap heap!" Toby raised an eyebrow, offended now.

"What on earth are you talking about? I've done nothing of the sort!" Thomas growled.

"Oh yeah? Then why is he missing from his siding?"

"What?"

"GLYNN'S _GONE!_ Disappeared! Not a trace!" Toby rolled farther forward and sure enough, Glynn was gone; the siding was entirely empty. Toby could see where the ivy that had grown onto Glynn had been cut, and the remaining vines laid limply on the ground without any structure to cling to. The tram engine spluttered.

"He…he was _just_ here!"

"WELL, HE'S NOT NOW!" Thomas shouted. He shot Toby a nasty glare.

"Now that _he's_ gone, I suppose you want to replace me too, huh?" The tram engine couldn't think of how to respond.

"Well, that's not going to happen! This is _my_ branch line, thank you very much, and I won't let you get rid of me like you did my friend! Come on, Annie and Clarabel!" He whistled and backed out of the siding, barely avoiding hitting Toby in the cowcatcher. He backed onto his coaches and shot Toby one more glare before leaving the station to head back up the line. As Thomas stormed away, Henrietta could see a worried Clarabel mouth "sorry" from the back of the train. She winced before looking back to Toby, who simply sat dumbfounded on Glynn's siding.

"What just happened?" Toby asked, exhausted. Henrietta cringed.

"Guess some things just aren't that easy…" She muttered.

* * *

Meanwhile, Henry was puffing along the main line with his passenger train. The sun shone and birds sang, and he was in a very good mood. He arrived at Wellsworth to see Gordon sitting in the other platform and whistled to greet him as he braked into the platform.

"Hello, Gordon!" Gordon groaned at the sound of Henry's whistle before scowling at the big green engine.

"Hello, Henry." He replied dully. Henry could sense that Gordon wasn't pleased to see him, but tried to remain positive nonetheless.

"How are you today, Gordon? The express running well?" Gordon remained uninterested.

"It's going fine." Henry winced.

"It's a lovely day, isn't it?" Gordon rolled his eyes.

"Yes, very lovely indeed." He muttered, before the guard's whistle blew and he headed on his way, leaving Henry behind. Henry watched him leave before sighing.

"Oh, dear…" However, he heard the chirp of a nearby bird and smiled.

"It _is_ a lovely day." His guard blew the whistle and Henry left the station with his coaches trundling along behind him, looking forward to continuing his lovely journey.

* * *

Further down the line, Henry approached a bridge where some boys were standing, watching the trains pass. He smiled.

"I feel so well! I feel so well!" He laughed to himself. He looked up at the boys and blew his whistle.

"Hello, boys!" However, Henry failed to notice that the boys had their hands behind their backs, and one grinned at the others.

"Hello, _Henry…_ " As Henry rumbled under the bridge, the boys took their hands out from behind their backs, revealing that they were holding stones. They hurled the stones down at the train, laughing as they bounced off of Henry and the coaches.

"Ooh, ouch! _OW!_ " Henry groaned as the stones hit his boiler. Some of the stones hit the coaches, shattering the glass in their windows. The boys laughed mischievously until the furious driver drew the train to a stop. Henry groaned in pain as his driver hopped down from the cab and began to run towards the bridge.

"You boys are in a lot of trouble!" He shouted. The leader looked at the other two and winced.

"Scatter!" He shouted, and the boys sprinted off, running in different directions. The driver tried to chase after them, but they were too fast and he ended up having to give up.

"Bother…" He muttered, before returning to examine Henry. A man poked his head out of a shattered window, careful to avoid the fractured glass left behind.

"What on _earth_ just happened?" He demanded angrily. The driver sighed as the fireman climbed down from the cab to join him.

"Well, we got stones dropped on us; that's obvious, isn't it? Is anyone hurt?" Another passenger poked her head out of another shattered window, one arm holding her hat.

"No, but those hoodlums gave us an awful fright! We should call the police!" The first man nodded in agreement, but the driver shook his head. Henry looked at his buffers.

"If we do that, we'd have to stay here until they arrived and we'd be even _more_ late."

"Besides the fact that the police isn't too fond of the railway right now because of Thomas, Henry is perfectly capable of handling the situation on his own. Aren't you, old boy?" Henry raised an eyebrow at his driver.

"I am?" However, the passengers were intrigued.

"What are you going to do?" The woman poking her head of the window asked as more passengers poked their heads out of other windows. The driver smirked.

"Well, if you can keep a secret…Henry's going to _sneeze_ at them." He looked rather proud of himself, but the passengers simply gave each other confused looks.

"What?" A man asked in confusion from the rear of the train. The driver sighed.

"Just wait and see." He climbed back into the cab with the fireman and Henry whistled before setting off. The big green engine was concerned.

"Sneeze at them?" He asked. The driver chuckled.

"Hope you don't mind feeling stuffed up for a bit, Henry. We have to build up quite a bit of ash in order for this to work…"

* * *

Henry soon found out what he meant. By the time he reached the station before the bridge on his return journey, he felt very stuffed up indeed. His driver addressed the interested passengers on the platform confidently.

"Henry has plenty of ashes. As this plan _involves_ hot ash, please keep all windows shut until we've passed the bridge. Henry is as excited as we are. Aren't you, old fellow?" Henry felt more stuffed up, but smiled from behind his watering eyes.

"Certaingly! I'b ready, sir!" It was significantly harder for the passengers to understand him because of his stuffed nose, but they nodded politely. As they boarded, Gordon arrived at the station and raised an eyebrow upon seeing Henry.

"Are you alright? You look a bit…ill." Henry, however, sniffled and smiled.

"Of gourse, Gordong! I just have to deach some silly boys a," Henry sniffed, "lesson. Goodbye!" The guard's whistle blew and Henry puffed away, leaving Gordon to watch, intrigued.

* * *

Henry bustled towards the bridge, where he saw the boys waiting again. He looked nervously back to his driver.

"Deir hangds are behing their backs againg…what if dey drow dem at me?" The driver grinned.

"Not if this plan works, old boy." Henry suddenly began to feel a tickling in his nose.

"I dink I'm about do sneeze!"

"Not yet! Wait until I say so, and then sneeze as hard as you can!" The bridge grew closer and closer. Henry could feel the sneeze coming.

"Ah…"

"Almost…" The driver looked up. The lead boy smirked from up on the bridge. Henry couldn't hold it much longer.

"Ah…"

"Just one second…"

"Ah…"

"NOW!"

"Ah- _CHOO_!" As Henry sped under the bridge, a cloud of smoke and soot erupted from his funnel, raining down on the shocked boys. The big green engine rocketed onwards, leaving the boys behind. The lead boy, stunned by the "sneeze", dropped his stones before walking away from the bridge with a blank stare on his face. The other boys followed, dropping their stones as well. The driver laughed triumphantly.

"Atta boy, Henry! You showed 'em, you did!" Henry smiled.

"I can breathe again too!" He chuckled to himself before continuing on.

* * *

Henry pulled into Knapford feeling triumphant.

"Thank you, Henry!" One of the passengers called as she left. The green engine beamed. However, one person wasn't exactly happy with Henry, as he found out when the man himself walked alongside him on the platform, arms crossed.

"I trust I don't have to tell you that I _don't_ approve of sneezing under bridges?" The Fat Controller asked, raising an eyebrow at Henry. He blushed in embarrassment.

"No, sir." To his surprise, the Fat Controller smiled.

"Good. Between you and me, I don't think any more boys will think it's a good idea to throw stones at trains after this. While I appreciate you solving a problem, I would prefer if you didn't repeat it." Henry chuckled.

"Of course, sir." The Fat Controller grinned and gave his number 3 a wink.

"Splendid. Carry on, Henry." He walked away. As he left, Henry was surprised to hear a whistle and to see Gordon creep alongside.

"Heard you taught some naughty boys a lesson, Henry. Great work." The big engine complimented. Henry smiled.

"Thank you, Gordon." He replied. To his surprise, Gordon looked down at his buffers.

"I believe I owe you an…apology." He struggled to find the word. Henry raised an eyebrow before the big blue engine continued.

"I admit that when you got your rebuild that I was jealous. How couldn't I be? The railway sinking an enormous amount of money into fixing the railway's weak link instead of a really useful engine like me? Unbelievable!" Henry rolled his eyes, but Gordon cleared his throat.

"But I was wrong. Every engine wants to be really useful, and your rebuild was just making it so you _could_ be. You've always had the spirit of a really useful engine, Henry; you're hardworking, protective of your friends, and, as your role in ridding our railway of some naughty boys shows, very clever. Forgive me for not acting as such for all these years, and especially now…I'm sorry." Henry looked at Gordon, who seemed rather uncomfortable at allowing himself to be this vulnerable. He thought for a moment before smiling.

"I'm a new engine now, Gordon. I'd be happy for a fresh start." Gordon smiled back. Henry chuckled.

"Are you headed back to the sheds?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Can I join you?" Gordon grinned, and he and Henry rolled off towards Tidmouth Sheds together. From another platform, Percy watched the two big engines leave and smiled to himself before returning to work.

* * *

Things are starting to wrap up! Toby and Henrietta have gotten over their fear of buses, and Henry has now both taught some naughty boys a lesson and finally made up with Gordon. However, there's still some things that are up in the air for Toby to resolve, mainly the fact that Glynn has disappeared and Thomas thinks it's his fault. I've never had much of an appreciation for _Henry's Sneeze,_ but adapting it turned out to be far more fun than I expected and I think it turned out really fun. Gordon's development has been a bit in the background, but this is, in my opinion, the origin of their strong friendship that lasts to the present day as opposed to the animosity between them from before, even during the strike. As for Glynn's whereabouts? Well, if you've read _The Sad Story of Glynn_ from my first set of episodes, you may have already figured out what is going to happen, but I won't say just how. See Thomas and Toby settle their feud for a common goal in the penultimate chapter of this story: "A Kyndley Gesture"!


	11. A Kyndley Gesture

Soon enough, December had rolled around once more, and spirits were beginning to rise as Christmas came closer and closer. Everyone seemed to be getting along well for once…except Thomas and Toby.

"It's always the same before Christmas, Thomas! People crammed into us like we're…sardine cans, or something!" Annie lamented as Thomas and the coaches made their way along the branch line one rainy morning.

"We feel so full! We feel so full!" Clarabel groaned. Thomas was about to respond when he heard the ring of a bell and frowned.

"Harrumph." He snorted as he stormed past, barely giving Toby and Henrietta a second glance. Toby sighed as the three sped out of sight.

"It's been _months_ and he's still acting like this, Henrietta; he hasn't even given me a chance to explain myself!" Henrietta watched the cloud of smoke from Thomas' funnel disappeared into the distance and sighed.

"Annie and Clarabel have said that's he's…stubborn. I'm sure the two of them will try to talk sense into him when he's willing to listen." Toby winced, but looked up into the sky at the sound of the thunder.

"We should try and finish our work soon; I think there's a storm on the way…"

* * *

It soon started raining hard, but, as Thomas approached the hill before Mrs. Kyndley's cottage, he struggled gallantly on. He could barely see through the torrential downpour.

"Come on…come on…" He poured sand on the rails as he climbed the hill and began to puff up it with all of his might. Annie groaned.

"Please get us out of this rain, Thomas!"

"Quite right, Annie! I don't know how much more water my roof can take!" Suddenly, Thomas' wheels began to slip, and he cried out in horror as his wheels spun helplessly on the hill.

"Oh no!" Annie and Clarabel screamed in terror as Thomas began to slip backwards. His driver leaned out the cab window.

"Come on, Thomas! We're almost there!" Thomas grit his teeth as he gave a valiant effort. Finally, Thomas rolled over the top of the hill, and the cottage came into view. Thomas laughed triumphantly.

"I did it! I did it!" He panted. However, he suddenly saw something waving in the distance. He squinted to get a good look at it.

"There's something red…and it's _waving!_ " The driver stuck his head out of the cab again and saw what looked like an enormous red flag waving from out of Mrs. Kyndley's window.

"It's Mrs. Kyndley! Something must be wrong!" Thomas frowned determinedly.

"She must need help! We have to stop!"

"Right you are, Thomas!" Thomas' driver applied the brakes and brought the train to a stop alongside Mrs. Kyndley's cottage. The enormous red "flag" disappeared back into Mrs. Kyndley's window. Clarabel's guard hopped down and ran towards the front of the train.

"What's happened?" Clarabel asked.

"I'm going to get even more wet!" Annie groaned. The guard climbed onto Thomas' stepladder.

"What's happened?" He asked. Thomas' driver looked to the cottage.

"See if there's a doctor on the train; Mrs. Kyndley's flagged us down and she might be in trouble!" The guard ran back to the coaches and climbed aboard Annie.

"Oh dear; I hope she's alright!" Annie said worriedly. Thomas winced up at the cottage.

"So do I." Thomas' fireman hopped down from the cab and peered into the rain ahead.

"I'll take a look around the bend and see if the line's clear." Thomas' driver climbed down as well and pat him on the back.

"Good man." The fireman ran on ahead while Thomas' guard returned with one of the passengers. Thomas' driver pointed up towards the cottage and the guard nodded, beckoning the doctor to follow him. As the guard and the doctor headed up to the cottage, Thomas worriedly called out after them.

"Please tell us if she's alright!" He called. Soon, Thomas' fireman returned from around the bend.

"We'll have to head back to the station for a good go, won't we?" The driver sighed. The fireman shook his head.

"We're not going to get further at all; come take a look!" Thomas' driver and fireman walked around the bend, and Thomas' driver's eyes widened at the sight.

"Well, blow me down! A landslide! Thank goodness we stopped!" Sure enough, the hillside had collapsed, and now the line was entirely blocked by earth and rubble. The fireman turned to the driver.

"We better head over and check on Mrs. Kyndley; what a coincidence!" Thomas' driver shook his head.

"Look, you can see this side of the valley from her window; she must have been warning us! We must thank her!" They ran back towards the cottage, passing a very confused Thomas.

"What's happened?" The driver looked back as the fireman ran ahead.

"We'll explain in a moment!" He then caught up with the fireman just as he knocked on the door. The doctor opened it.

"She seems alright, but-"  
"Bob! Earl! You saw the dressing gown, right? You're all safe?" Mrs. Kyndley seemed like she was in a panic; she coughed profusely following this. The driver smiled.

"Everyone's fine, Mrs. Kyndley; thank you for sticking your gown out the window, otherwise we certainly wouldn't have been!" Mrs. Kyndley let out a sigh of relief.

"Good to hear, dearie; I was worried for a moment about that landslide. Silly of me to faint over it." She chuckled. The doctor continued to check her temperature.

"You've still a fever, ma'am; are you sure you're alright?" Mrs. Kyndley chuckled before coughing again.

"Don't worry about me, doctor; I've been sick for several months now, nothing out of the ordinary." Thomas' driver and fireman shared worried glances before the driver spoke again.

"Mrs. Kyndley, you saved our lives; if there's anything we can do-"  
"Really, Bob, it's fine. You all being safe is enough. Happy Christmas!" The old woman smiled her warm smile, but the crew remained worried as they left the cottage.

* * *

Eventually, Thomas' driver and fireman came down from the cottage and re-boarded the train.

"Is everything alright?" Annie asked, worriedly. The driver nodded, but he didn't seem convinced.

"There's a landslide blocking the line that she was warning us about; we'll have to go back to the station and call for a bus to get our passengers further." Thomas winced.

"And her health?" The driver wrung his hands awkwardly.

"She said she's alright, but I'm not so convinced; the doctor says she still has a fever." Thomas sighed.

"Poor Mrs. Kyndley; there must be something we can do about her illness…" He blew his whistle and began to reverse back to the station, leaving the cottage behind.

* * *

The rain had cleared up by later in the day, but it had replaced with a chilly wind that bit the engines' frames. As Thomas and Toby sat in the sheds at Ffarquhar that evening, the Fat Controller came to see them.

"Thomas, I heard about Mrs. Kyndley saving your train today." Thomas smiled sadly.

"Yes, but…she's still very sick, sir. I wish there was something we can do for her…" To both engines' surprise, the Fat Controller pulled out two tickets from behind his back.

"Exactly my thought, Thomas; the railway board has seen fit to gift Mrs. Kyndley with these two tickets for her and her husband to spend the Christmas holidays in Bournemouth, where hopefully the improved weather will help bring her back to good health again; we're going to give them to her with a special train up to her cottage tomorrow on Christmas Day!" Thomas beamed.

"Oh, thank you, sir! She'll love that!" The Fat Controller smiled.

"A snowstorm's due tonight, so I trust you and _Toby_ won't mind going out and keeping the branch line clear to make the journey as easy as possible tomorrow?" Thomas' eyes widened in surprise.

"Toby, sir? But Mrs. Kyndley didn't help _him,_ sir!" The Fat Controller held his hand up to silence the spluttering tank engine.

"Now, now, Thomas; Mrs. Kyndley is a friend of the railway and this is a gift from the _railway,_ so I see fit that the _railway_ shall work together to provide her with said gift." Toby smiled nervously at Thomas, but was met by a harsh glare in return; the Fat Controller didn't seem to notice. Suddenly, the Yard Manager ran up.

"Sir, a weather report just came in; a _blizzard_ is due tonight! You better get home before the roads are blocked!" The Fat Controller looked up at the grey sky before nodding back.

"Yes, thank you. Thomas, now you'll need Toby's help even more; we don't want Mrs. Kyndley to not get her gift on Christmas because of blocked tracks, do we?" Thomas looked down at his buffers, pouting.

"…no, sir." The Fat Controller smiled before walking over to his car.

"That's a good engine! Mrs. Kyndley is sure to love her gift; just make sure we can get it to her!" He shut the door and drove away, leaving Thomas and Toby behind in the shed. There was an awkward silence as Thomas and Toby's crews stepped down to start setting up their snowploughs. Toby decided to break it.

"Well, Thomas, I'm sure that keeping the line clear should be easy with two eng-"

"You're not going." Thomas grunted as his crew and a few workmen carried his snowplough over and began bolting it to his front. Toby raised an eyebrow.

"Well, the Fat Controller said-"

" _The Fat Controller_ isn't wise to your tricks, but I am. You may have gotten rid of Glynn but this is still _my_ branch line, and you can't get rid of _me_!" Toby frowned.

"Now, listen here! I didn't 'get rid' of anybody! I didn't even know Glynn, or _you,_ existed until I was here!" Thomas scoffed.

"Not falling for it. Stay here…try not to _replace_ anything while I'm gone." Thomas whistled and headed off towards the branch line, just as snow began to fall from the sky. Toby, looking down at his own snowplough, harrumphed as Thomas disappeared.

"Doesn't let me get a word in…" He grumbled. A nearby Annie scoffed.

"Sounds like Thomas; we've been trying to clear this whole mess up for _weeks_ and he still doesn't listen!" Clarabel sighed.

"We're dreadfully sorry, Toby." Henrietta, on the line next to them, smiled.

"You've apologized enough. I'm sure this whole situation will clear itself up soon." Toby looked at his buffers.

"I hope so…" He looked at the worsening snow outside and sighed nervously.

* * *

The snow soon began to get much heavier, and the line ahead of Thomas was obscured by the deep drifts beginning to appear. He squinted through the heavy snowfall as he strained to push the snow aside.

"Come on…come _on!_ " He groaned. The snow seemed heavier than ever, and his wheels slipped furiously on the snowy rails. His driver looked out of the window and could see nothing but snow.

"Come on, Thomas, keep going! We still have line to clear!" Thomas strained hard against the snow in front of him, but he couldn't budge and his wheels continued to spin.

"I… _can't!_ " He panted, before finally stopping to catch his breath. His driver stuck his head out of the window and looked ahead into the deep snow.

"It only gets deeper; we should go back and get Toby!" Thomas grit his teeth.

"No! I can do it! All I need is a running start; back me up!" Thomas' driver nervously opened the reverser and Thomas began to back up. He braked to a halt and began to build up steam. His driver saw his angry expression and raised an eyebrow.

"What's gotten you all riled up?" Thomas growled.

"Nothing! Just wearing this heavy, uncomfortable plough! Come on!" Thomas' driver opened the regulator and Thomas charged forwards toward the drift ahead of him. He squinted determinedly as the drift drew closer and closer. However, he charged into the drift and…

"OUCH!" Thomas hit the drift and came off the rails, one set of wheels stuck firmly in the snow while the remaining two straddled the line. His driver and fireman hopped down and inspected the damage.

"You don't seem to have any damage done but there's no way we can back you onto the line in this weather; we'll have to go for help." The fireman shook his head.

"How are we supposed to walk back to the station in this weather? Do you see this snow?" The driver sighed.

"We may be stuck out here for a while…" Thomas shivered. Suddenly, they heard a familiar "pickiteh-pockiteh" in the distance and he gasped with delight.

"Terence! Terence! Over here!" He called. Sure enough, out of the snow on the road above came Terence, hauling a cart full of dirt while pushing snow aside with his plough. The tractor squinted at the derailed tank engine.

"Thomas? What are you doing out here in the snow?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Trying to keep the line clear so we can give Mrs. Kyndley a surprise for Christmas tomorrow! What are _you_ doing out here?" Terence chuckled before looking back to his cart.

"Clearing that landslide near Mrs. Kyndley's house off your line, since it seems that you engines aren't that good at clearing things yourselves from the looks of it! Not as _adaptable_ as m-"

"Terence, I've come off the rails!" Thomas interrupted. Terence looked concerned.

"Well, that's not good, is it? Especially in this weather…I'll gladly take your crew and we can go and find help for you; I would do it myself but I can't get down there." Thomas smiled as his crew climbed the embankment and hopped onto Terence.

"You're a lifesaver, Terence!" The tractor grinned.

"Don't sweat it; wouldn't be the first time! Help is on the way!" Terence sped away into the blizzard, leaving Thomas to wait as the snow began to build up around him.

* * *

Toby was still sitting in the sheds with the coaches when Terence arrived.

"Thomas has come off the rails and needs help right away!" The tractor explained. Annie and Clarabel gasped.

" _Thomas!_ " Annie cried.

"Is he alright? Please tell me he's alright!" Clarabel worried. Thomas' crew hopped down from Terence.

"He's fine, but the snow is getting deeper! He could be stuck out there all night if we don't get out there as soon as possible!" They looked at Toby, who seemed confused for a moment before realizing what they were implying.

"Me? Thomas _hates_ me!" Annie and Clarabel shared a glance before Henrietta spoke.

"You're the only one who can go out there, Toby; it has to be you. If the line isn't cleared for tomorrow, we may not be able to give Mrs. Kyndley her present!" Toby thought for a moment as everyone looked at him. Finally, he looked down at his snowplough and sighed before giving a determined smile.

"Well, alright then." Henrietta smiled as Toby's crew, followed by Thomas', climbed into the cab and began building up his fire.

"That's my Toby…" She said quietly to herself. Eventually, Toby's fire was burning nicely and he rang his bell loudly before charging out into the blizzard.

"Good luck, Toby!" Terence called.

"Be safe!" Henrietta added as the tram engine's silhouette disappeared into the blanket of white.

* * *

Toby struggled on through the blizzard, pushing snow aside with his plough. It was hard to see, but Toby didn't care.

"…must…save…Thomas…" He groaned as his wheels spun beneath his sideplates as he tried to move the heavy drifts aside. Finally, he rounded a bend and saw a familiar silhouette in the snow and let out a sigh of relief as he rang his bell.

"Thomas! I'm here to help you!" He panted. Thomas glared.

"What? So you can replace me?" Toby grit his teeth before calming himself down and sighing.

"Thomas, will you just listen to me for one minute? I promise I can explain everything." Thomas raised an eyebrow.

"Go on." Toby took a deep breath to steady his nerves before speaking.

"My old line was shut down by buses and lorries taking all our work and Sir Topham Hatt saved me from scrap by bringing me here. The stationmaster was going to turn Henrietta into a _henhouse_ if he hadn't saved us, and I'm very grateful for that…I wish that he could've saved Glynn too." Thomas was surprised, and his glare began to soften as Toby continued.

"Henrietta and I have had a lot of trouble fitting in here; not only because of everything being bigger than where we came from, but also because we had to leave a very dear friend of ours back in East Anglia. I wanted to stay behind with her, but she insisted that we take this opportunity and leave her behind. So…we did. I wish every day that, as much as I love having a second lease at life here, she could've come with us and that I could've fought harder for her. What I'm saying, Thomas, is that…I know what it's like to not be able to save someone." Toby looked up. He couldn't see Thomas' face, but the tank engine was silent. All they could hear was the howling of the snow around them. Toby broke the silence.

"Elsie told me and Henrietta that she wanted us to move forward; to make the fact that she was left behind worth it. I hadn't talked to Glynn much, Thomas, but…I think he would've wanted the same; for you to move forward." Still no response. Finally, he heard a shaky breath from the tank engine and a small voice.

"…Toby?"

"Yes, Thomas?"

"…I'm sorry." He didn't say anything more, but Toby could tell that he deeply meant it. He smiled.

"Glad to hear it. Let's get on with it then, shall we?" The crews connected a chain between Toby and Thomas' couplings and Toby began to puff hard to pull Thomas back onto the rails. Eventually, after much strain, the tank engine was back on the rails and upright, smiling.

"Thank you, Toby." The tram engine grinned.

"You're welcome; I think that's the first time I've seen you smile since I got here." Both engines chuckled before Thomas spoke.

"Toby, I think Glynn would've wanted us to be friends…or, at least, start over." He smiled nervously. Toby beamed.

"I'd like that." He replied. Thomas looked out into the snowstorm.

"A lot of snow still to clear." He remarked. Toby smirked.

"I think we can handle it." Thomas smirked confidently back.

* * *

Thomas and Toby worked back-to-back keeping the line clear for hours. It was hard, but with the two of them working together they didn't care.

"Let's give Mrs. Kyndley the incredible Christmas she deserves!" Thomas called triumphantly as he and Toby charged into a tunnel, bursting the snowdrift outside it aside. The two were beginning to become friends as Christmas morning dawned.

* * *

The next morning, the familiar chirping of birds from the bird-feeder hanging outside her window woke Mrs. Kyndley up. She sat up in bed, but did not have the strength to do much else. Her husband seemed to have already have gone downstairs.

"Gerald?" She called into the hall, but could not hear her husband reply. However, she suddenly heard a bell and a whistle and strained to look out of the window.

"Huh? What's that?" Suddenly, she gasped as a train came into view. At the head was Toby with his snowplough, followed by Thomas, then Annie and Clarabel, and finally Henrietta at the rear of the train. Toby had an enormous grin on his face as they approached the cottage.

"Happy Christmas, Mrs. Kyndley!" He called. Mrs. Kyndley gasped from inside the house and started trying to get out of bed to wave hello. Toby and Thomas braked the train to a halt outside the cottage, and the Fat Controller, Lady Hatt, the guard, and a slew of passengers stepped out. Mr. Kyndley opened the door and smiled.

"She's just upstairs; she's sure to love the surprise!" He smiled. The Fat Controller, Lady Hatt, Thomas' crew, and the guard went upstairs while the rest of the passengers milled about outside. Thomas sighed to Annie and Clarabel.

"I wish I could thank Mrs. Kyndley too…" Annie chuckled.

"I'm sure Mrs. Kyndley would appreciate that, Thomas." Toby cleared his throat and smiled.

"I don't think the walls of her house would, though." They all laughed. Inside the house, the group were now in Mrs. Kyndley's room. The Fat Controller handed her the tickets.

"Kitty, I and the railway cannot thank you enough for preventing a nasty accident. I hope you and Gerald can accept this offer to spend a few months in Bournemouth to help you recover from your illness in the sunshine." Mrs. Kyndley beamed from ear to ear.

"Topham, you're too kind." She coughed before she could continue, and Lady Hatt gave her husband a glance.

"I think she needs to rest, dear." The Fat Controller smiled before tipping his hat.

"Happy Christmas." As the crew shuffled in to say 'happy Christmas' to Lady Hatt, the passengers outside the window began to quietly sing.

" _We wish you a merry Christmas_

 _We wish you a merry Christmas_

 _We wish you a merry Christmas_

 _and a happy new year!_ " Soon, the Fat Controller, Lady Hatt, and the others had came down to join them, and everyone was singing outside of the Kyndley cottage. Toby, Thomas, and the coaches smiled at the cottage. Henrietta beamed from the back of the train.

"Happy Christmas, Toby!" She called. Toby beamed back.

"Happy Christmas, Henrietta!" From behind him, Toby heard Thomas talk in a small voice.

"Happy Christmas, Glynn…" Toby gave a sad smile.

"…and happy Christmas, Elsie, whoever you are. I know we've never met but…if Toby misses you as much as I miss Glynn, he must miss you a lot." The tram engine knew he wasn't meant to hear, but couldn't help but smile. A tear rolled down his cheek as he finally felt at home for the first time since he left his first one.

* * *

With that, both of our main characters' story arcs have been wrapped up! I've always been fond of Toby, so getting to rewrite his book and origins was a lot of fun and helped me get to know the character again. _Mrs. Kyndley's Christmas_ was always the weak point of the original book for me, so I decided to expand significantly expand on the original story as well as wrapping up Toby and Thomas' conflict. I know this took a long time and would like to thank everyone for being so patient; I wanted this to be as good as it could be and, as I was doing a lot more work than just adapting the original story for this one, I wanted to make sure the result was as good as it could be. Come back soon (I promise a shorter amount of time than 2 months!) for not only the final chapter of this story, "All's Well That Ends Well", but also a bonus episode!


	12. All's Well That Ends Well

Mrs. Kyndley enjoyed her holiday immensely, and as the snow melted away and the spring thaw set in, the engines finally heard back from her. Thomas was waiting in Elsbridge with Annie and Clarabel when he heard Toby ring his bell and grinned.

"Toby! A postcard came from Mrs. Kyndley today for us!" He called excitedly. Toby raised an eyebrow as he rolled into the platform.

"Did it now?" Henrietta, behind him, chuckled.

"Well, what does it say?" Thomas' driver stepped out of the cab to show Toby the postcard and read it aloud.

" _Dear Thomas and Toby, thank you so much for the lovely holiday! I feel leagues better already, and I've even started going out and about on my runs again; the weather is brilliant here and exactly what I needed to get better. You two are really useful engines for helping me out, and I look forward to seeing you two on the branch line when I return. Looking forward to seeing you soon, Mrs. Kyndley._ " Toby beamed.

"Glad she's enjoying herself; certainly better than how she was doing before!" Thomas smiled.

"She wouldn't have gotten there if you hadn't helped me out in the snow, Toby." Toby smiled back. From behind Thomas, Annie gave Henrietta a grin and Henrietta smiled back. Suddenly, a loud whistle blasted and Henry rumbled into the platform.

"Good afternoon, you two; got Mrs. Kyndley's card, I see?" Thomas beamed.

"Yes! She should back soon, and I expect she'll want to see us!" Henry gave a knowing smile.

"Well, Thomas, speaking of wanting to see you…I know someone who wants to see _you._ " Thomas raised an eyebrow. Toby looked back at Henry's train and gasped, but didn't say anything to spoil the surprise.

"Thomas… _look!_ " He hissed with excitement. Thomas looked back and his eyes widened. His jaw dropped as he saw that, sitting on a flatbed on Henry's train, was a newly restored…

" _Glynn!_ You're alright!" The "Coffee Pot" had an enormous smile on his face, as well as a new coat of shiny red paint. All the ivy and rust had been removed, and he looked smarter than ever.

"Hello, Thomas! Sorry I had to leave without saying goodbye, but Mr. Hatt wanted me restored as quickly as possible for the _museum!_ " Thomas looked as if he were about to cry he was so happy.

"Glynn, you're going to a museum! You're going to be okay!" As Thomas reversed to be level with Glynn so he could have a chat with his old friend, Henry looked to Toby.

"Looks like things have been looking up around here for you, huh?" Toby smiled.

"Thomas and I have more in common than we thought." He mused. The two friends laughed. From behind them, Toby could hear Glynn finishing his story.

"…and Mr. Hatt happened to hear Toby talking about me and decided that he must do something! He couldn't convince the railway board to return me to service, but as soon as they heard there were plans to restore me, the museum I'm going to was more than happy to fund it!" Thomas was stunned. He looked to Toby.

"Thank you, Toby." Toby chuckled back.

"Oh, no need, Thomas. Every engine deserves a second chance; it's about time Glynn got his." He gave Henry a wink, which the green engine gladly returned. Suddenly, the guard's whistle blew.

"Oh, that'll be me. Goodbye, Thomas! Goodbye, Glynn! Enjoy the museum!" Toby rang his bell and began to pull out of the station. Henry smiled as Toby rolled past.

"Goodbye, Toby!" The tram engine smiled.

"Goodbye, Henry!" As Toby disappeared down the branch line, Henry's guard blew the whistle and Henry looked back to Thomas and Glynn. Thomas gave Glynn a toot goodbye on his whistle, and Glynn tried to do the same, but he couldn't. He looked to Henry, who smirked before blowing his own whistle and beginning to puff out of Elsbridge, dragging his long heavy train behind him.

 _An engine needed special coal to pull a single train,_

As Henry and Glynn disappeared into the distance, Thomas watched, impressed at Henry's strength.

 _Another had no work and feared he'd never puff again…_

Toby and Henrietta made their way down the branch line, both with enormous smiles on their faces, finally feeling at home.

 _But a second chance is all they need to be really useful!_

On each of their respective routes, Henry and Toby approached signals. They both looked up and saw that said signals were green, before grinning confidently.

 _Hear the whistles blow!_

Henry blasted his whistle as he charged through his signal. Toby rang his bell as he did the same with his.

 _Henry, blow your whistle; Toby, ring your bell,_

 _All the other engines, blow yours as well._

Henry puffed along the main line with his long heavy train. He soon approached Wellsworth, where Gordon was waiting in the platform with the express, alongside Edward in the sidings. He blew his whistle loudly as he passed by, causing Edward to whistle back. Gordon cringed at Henry whistling in the station, but decided to let it go and whistled right back.

 _Engines, blow your whistles and let's all have some fun,_

 _Engines, blow your whistles; Let's hear the whistle song_

As Toby made his way along the branch line, he passed Terence in his field and rang his bell hello. Soon, Bertie sped by on the road and honked his horn to greet the tram engine. Henrietta smiled as the bus disappeared into the distance.

 _One long whistle means coming up fast,_

Percy banged a line of trucks together in the yards and whistled hello to Judy and Jerome.

 _Two in the fog, give two short blasts._

James made his way along the main line with a goods train in a foul mood, whistling twice at a signalbox to show he was coming.

 _One, two, three, means clear up the line_

 _Let's blow our whistles one more time!_

Henry soon approached the Vicarstown Bridge, and blew his whistle three times. The drawbridge then began to go down, much to Glynn's amazement. Henry smirked confidently at the Mainland ahead.

 _Henry, blow your whistle; Toby, ring your bell,_

 _All the other engines, blow yours as well._

As Henry charged across the bridge to the Mainland, Toby made his way along the tramway up to the quarry. He soon approached the crossing, and saw Constable Booker fast asleep against the traffic post.

 _Engines blow your whistles, and let's all have some fun,_

An idea flew into Toby's funnel, and he smirked back at Henrietta as he slowed down while approaching the crossing.

 _Engines blow your whistles, Let's hear the whistle song!_

Just as Toby passed the crossing, he rang his bell as loud as he could, startling the constable awake and causing him to hit his head on the traffic post. As Constable Booker rubbed his head in pain, Toby and Henrietta laughed as they made their way up to the quarry; they had a new home.

 **THE END**

* * *

Finally done! While I am proud of _Troublesome Engines,_ I think I went into this story with a far more cohesive vision; the idea of second chances, and how we take them in order to achieve redemption. Henry and Toby are two of my favorite characters in the Thomas mythos, so it was beyond thrilling to get to do an adaptation of their original arcs while adding all sorts of new elements like Glynn, Elsie, and Graham. Elsie in particular has gone from a nothing character to one of my favorite characters I've developed, and I hope you all enjoyed her as much as I did. While I enjoyed writing the three long-form specials tied to Set 2 (this, _Thomas & The Buffman Bomber, _and _The Great Race_ ), I'm very much looking forward to getting back to some shorter form episode content. Hope to see you all soon in _Thomas & Friends: Season 21 Redux'_s first redone episode; _A Most Singular Engine!_

...but wait! I can hear you all saying "if Glynn is sent to a museum instead of being shuffled around sidings, then how did _The Christmas Coffeepot_ happen?" Well, I can answer that; in my timeline, it _didn't._ Rather, I have a new story that you all can slot into its place in my canon, that will be attached to this soon. Come see Glynn's return to Sodor, as well as everyone's favorite railway steam shovel try to spread a little Christmas cheer, in this special's bonus episode; _Dig the Halls!_


	13. BONUS EPISODE: Dig the Halls!

**DIG THE HALLS!  
INSPIRED BY "THE CHRISTMAS COFFEEPOT" BY HELEN FARRALL**

It was Christmastime on the Island of Sodor, and everyone seemed to be happy.

"Good morning, Gordon! Merry Christmas!" Thomas called as the big blue engine rocketed through Kellsthorpe Road with the express. He whistled back.

"Merry Christmas, little Thomas!" Thomas smiled, but heard another whistle and saw James pulling into the platform. As James rolled under the footbridge, Thomas could see some snow sliding off the roof.

"James, look out!" James looked up and gasped.

"Huh?" Snow rained down on James, covering him. He rolled into the platform covered in white snow. Thomas winced.

"Uh oh! He's sure to be upset about his paintwork!" To Thomas' surprise, James scoffed.

"It's only snow, Thomas! Besides, it's _Christmas,_ I'm not going to complain _all_ the time!" Thomas, James, Annie, and Clarabel laughed.

* * *

However, there was one engine who loved Christmas more than any other…

"Bill! Ben! It's almost _CHRISTMAS!_ " Marion the Steam Shovel cheered as she burst out of her shed one morning. Bill opened a sleepy eye.

"It's too early…" He muttered. Marion, however, continued to gush as she rolled out into the clay pits.

"I _love_ Christmas, don't you? Spending time with your loved ones, putting up the tree, opening the _presents!_ Yes, there's no better time of year! How does that song go again? Oh yes! _It's the most wonderful time of the year…_ " As Marion carolled into the morning sky, Ben gave his twin a glance.

"Seems like Marion's been taken over by the Christmas spirit again." He quipped. Bill chuckled.

"Same as _every_ year; she just can't get enough!" Marion, who had ventured a bit out into the clay pits by then, looked back at the twins.

"Did you two say something?" However, she was interrupted.

"Marion! I have an important job for you!" She looked over and saw the Fat Controller walking over, bundled up in a scarf. Marion was excited.

"An important job, sir? What is it?" The Fat Controller chuckled.

"Settle down, Marion. I need you to help clear snow from the tracks with your shovel; it's been heavy this winter and Donald and Douglas can't do it all on their own. Do you think you can manage?" Marion grinned happily.

"Certainly, sir! I'd be happy to!"

* * *

" _Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la!_ " Marion sang as she made her way up the branch line, shoveling snow aside. The snow was deep, but Marion didn't mind; more digging was always fun for her! Eventually, she approached a signal and gasped in delight when she saw who was on the road nearby.

" _Trevor!_ Hi, Trevor! Merry Christmas!" Trevor the Traction Engine was startled, but smiled nonetheless as Marion steamed up to the signal.

"Hello, Marion! What are you doing today?" He asked. Marion beamed.

"I'm shoveling snow to help spread the _Christmas spirit!_ " She cheered, throwing snow into the air. Some of it landed on Trevor, but Marion didn't notice. Trevor rolled his eyes but still smiled as the snow slid off his boiler.

"Well, if there's anyone who'd be good at that, it's you, Marion; I don't think I've ever met someone who embodies the Christmas spirit more." Marion's signal dropped, and she looked back at the traction engine.

"Thank you, Trevor! Sorry that I can't stay, but I have work that needs to get done! The snow won't shovel itself, nor will the Christmas spirit spread! _We wish you a merry Christmas…_ " As Marion shovelled into the distance, Trevor watched her before wryly chuckling to himself.

* * *

Marion's journey of snow-shoveling eventually brought her outside the Steamworks. She couldn't see Victor and Kevin, but could see that _something_ was happening inside as she shovelled snow outside.

"They must be busy...but not busy enough for _Christmas!_ " Marion laughed and rolled onto the transfer table. As she rolled into the Steamworks, she failed to notice Victor gasping and frantically trying to roll in front of what they were working on. Kevin drove around in circles, panicking.

"Hi, Victor! Hi, Kevin! I just wanted to stop by and say 'merry Christmas', 'happy holidays', and-huh?" Marion was surprised to see Victor and Kevin right in front of her, each with a huge, nervous grin on their faces.

"Hello, my friend! How are you on this fine day?" Victor said, sounding rather forced. Marion didn't notice.

"I'm doing great, Victor! I just wanted to come into the Steamworks and spread some Christmas spirit!" The little engine winced.

"Well, the Steamworks are very busy right now! _Far_ too busy for Christmas spirit; isn't that right, Kevin?" Victor looked to Kevin. The crane looked as if he were about to burst. He caved in instantly.

"You found us out! We're working on a surprise for the Fat Controller!" He zoomed out of the way, allowing Marion to see Sir Robert Norramby, the Earl of Sodor, standing next to a little engine on the turntable she had never seen before. Victor shot Kevin an annoyed glare.

"Very helpful, Kevin." Kevin chuckled nervously. Marion rolled cautiously forward to inspect the little engine. He was red, had four wheels and a vertical boiler. He had a number "1" painted on his side and a nameplate above it showing that his name was "Glynn". Glynn looked rather uncomfortable, as Marion was getting rather close to him while looking him over.

"Could you, um, back up a bit, please?" Marion realized what she was doing and cleared her throat, embarrassed.

"Oh yes, sorry...Glynn, was it?" The old engine smiled.

"That's me!" The Earl walked towards Glynn and put a hand on his buffer.

"Marion, meet Glynn; the original number 1 of the North Western Railway. Sir Topham designed and built him himself, you know! He was living in a museum on the Mainland, but I purchased him to restore him to working order for a new project of mine...of course, seeing as it is Christmas, bringing Glynn here is a surprise for Sir Topham as well!" The Earl chuckled as Glynn smiled. Marion beamed with excitement.

"Wow! He's sure to enjoy seeing you again, Glynn! I can't wait to t-"

"No, Marion; you _can't_ tell him! It'll spoil the surprise!" The Earl interrupted. Marion blushed.

"Oh, of course. Lips are sealed, sir." Victor approached the Earl and cleared his throat.

"Sir, if we want to keep Glynn a surprise, we're going to have to hide him better. It's fine that Marion knows, but so many engines come in and out of the Steamworks that it's going to be hard to keep him a secret." Marion saw Glynn look down at his buffers, looking rather uneasy. Suddenly, an idea flew into her funnel.

"Excuse me, sir?" She asked the Earl. He turned around.

"Yes, Marion?"

"Well, it is _Christmas,_ sir, and people tend to be more chipper at Christmas...maybe even feeling _better_ , sir?" The Earl raised an eyebrow.

"I'm afraid I don't understand."

"Well, if _I_ can get everyone on the island in a 'Christmas-y' mood, then maybe they won't come here to be fixed because they'll feel so festive and, well, _good_! That way we can keep Glynn a surprise!" The Earl rubbed his chin curiously.

"That just might work, Marion. It would make keeping him here much safer; alright, I'll allow it!" Marion grinned from buffer to buffer.

"Thank you! I promise I won't let you down, sir! Or you, Glynn!" As Marion began to reverse away from the Steamworks, Glynn looked rather amused.

"She's funny!" He remarked to Victor, who chuckled.

* * *

As Marion returned to Crovan's Gate station, she began to grow more and more excited about the idea of spreading the Christmas spirit.

"Oh, this is _thrilling!_ Everyone loves Christmas, so this'll be easy! All I have to do is take an extra little festive 'holiday step' wherever I go, and going to the Steamworks won't cross _anyone's_ mind!" She rolled into the station, and saw Skarloey and Rusty waiting for passengers on the narrow gauge platform. People milled about the station, boarding trains and talking with one another. Marion scanned the area, and noticed a pile of snow beside the line. She grinned giddily and scooped up some in her shovel. She cleared her throat.

"Merry Christmas, Skarloey! Merry Christmas, Rusty! Merry Christmas, _everyone!_ " Marion threw snow from her shovel high into the air and puffed away. However, instead of coming down in flakes, the snow all came down in one lump...and covered Skarloey, Rusty, and their passengers!

"Ouch!" Rusty groaned as a sheet of snow slammed into his cab. The passengers sought shelter as the snow began to get all their clothes wet. Skarloey, however, got the worst of it, and was covered in snow from funnel to cab. Some had gotten on his nose, and he looked rather irritated until he sneezed, causing it to shake off. Once he had his bearings, he glared in the direction Marion had gone.

"What do you think you're playing at?" He called angrily; Marion didn't hear.

* * *

As Marion continued shovelling snow across the island, no one was safe from her reign of yuletide terror.

"Mavis! Merry Christmas!" She called as she sped into the quarry, seeing Mavis on a siding. The diesel was surprised to see her.

"Oh, hello, Marion. Merry Christmas to you too." Marion looked around the quarry and frowned.

"You don't have any decorations around here, do you?" Mavis raised an eyebrow.

"Well, no; it's a quarry, Marion." The steam shovel wasn't listening to Mavis, and remained in thought. Suddenly, she gasped with delight.

"I know just the thing! Just stay right there, Mavis!" Marion darted away, leaving a concerned Mavis to watch as she did her work. When she was done, she grinned proudly.

" _Ta-da!_ Your very own Christmas tree! No need to thank me, just spreading the Christmas spirit! _On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me…_ " As Marion backed out of the quarry, Mavis tried to get her attention but couldn't get a word in.

"Marion! You can't put rocks on my line; I can't get out now!" Marion was too far away to hear, and Mavis was trapped on a siding behind a pile of rocks that Marion had fashioned into a makeshift Christmas tree. The diesel sighed, defeated.

* * *

At a crossing, Marion saw Bertie the Bus waiting and grinned.

"Bertie! Merry Christmas! Did you ever notice that you're red, just like Santa Claus?" Bertie raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I suppose s-"

"I have something that will make you even more like Santa Claus!" Before Bertie could even respond, Marion slammed a shovel-full of snow in his face. As the bus stood, stunned, with a "Santa beard" made of snow, Marion grinned.

"Merry Christmas, Bertie! You look perfect!" She blasted her whistle and puffed out of sight. Bertie glared as the snow fell off his face, revealing a red nose from being hit with the shovel. He groaned in pain.

"Ow...that hurt."

* * *

As Marion made her way across the island, the other engines began to hear of her reign of Christmas terror, and tried to avoid her. She saw Thomas waiting with Annie and Clarabel at a signal and tooted her whistle.

"Thomas! Thomas! Merry Christmas!" Clarabel gasped as Marion got closer.

"Thomas! It's _Marion!_ Hurry up!" Thomas looked up at the red signal and grit his teeth nervously.

"Come on! Come on!" He whispered. Just as Marion rolled alongside, the signal turned green and Thomas let out a sigh of relief.

"Hi, Thomas! M-"

"Sorry, Marion! Can't stop to talk; tons to do!" Thomas rocketed away with Annie and Clarabel in tow, leaving Marion rather confused.

"Oh...I guess I'll talk to you later? Thomas?" The tank engine didn't respond.

* * *

Marion very quickly began to notice that none of the engines were very happy at all. She soon passed Gordon, pulling the express.

"Hi, Gordon!" The big engine glared.

"Go away, Marion! I don't want any part in your 'Christmas cheer'!" He sped up, leaving Marion behind him. Marion heard James' whistle and saw him passing with a goods train.

"Happy holidays, J-"

"Buzz off, you Christmas kook! Bah humbug…" As James disappeared into the distance, Marion braked to a halt, frowning.

' "Oh dear...no one seems to like me spreading the Christmas spirit anymore. I thought everyone liked Christmas…" She sadly rolled away, feeling rather dejected.

* * *

Marion soon stopped at a signal, still feeling rather sorry for herself. As she moped, she suddenly heard someone clearing their throat.

"Is something wrong, Marion?" Marion looked to see Trevor, stopped on the road beside the line, looking rather concerned. She sighed.

"Oh hi, Trevor. I've been trying to get everyone in the Christmas spirit, since Christmas is so wonderful and all, but...I think I'm doing it all wrong. Instead of making everyone happy, they just seem to be upset at me." Trevor could see his friend was miserable, and thought for a moment.

"Well, Marion, from what I've heard you've been building Christmas trees and giving Santa beards and-"

"Is that not what Christmas is?" Marion asked, perplexed. Trevor smiled.

"Yes, but that isn't _all_ of it; Christmas is a time for making others happy, and being kind and generous. I think _that's_ what the Christmas spirit is; doing something kind for everyone you meet." The steam shovel seemed confused at first, but gradually started to get it and was smiling once more.

"You're right! If I'm kind to everybody, _then_ they'll get in the Christmas spirit! Thank you, Trevor!" Marion's signal dropped and she began to puff away.

"Merry Christmas, and thank you so much!" Trevor chuckled as his friend disappeared into the distance.

"You're welcome, Marion."

* * *

As Marion kept shovelling the snow off the line, she made an effort to be kind to everyone she met.

"Thank you, Marion!"

"Merry Christmas!" Skarloey and Rusty smiled as Marion cleared the last pile of snow from their shed. The shovel beamed and blew her whistle.

"Thanks for coming back to help, Marion. Merry Christmas!" Mavis said graciously as Marion cleared the rocks from her line.

"You're a lifesaver, Marion! Merry Christmas!" Bertie called as Marion moved the last of the snow in a drift off the road, allowing the bus to continue along his route. Marion had an enormous, uncontainable grin on her face the whole time.

* * *

As night fell, Marion returned to the Steamworks to check on Glynn and the Earl. On her way, she saw Thomas struggling to plough a snowdrift while his snowplough. She braked alongside.

"Would you like some help, Thomas?" The exhausted tank engine smiled.

"That would be wonderful, thank you, Marion." As Marion shoveled the snow off of Thomas' line, she could see the Steamworks in the distance. Annie cleared her throat.

"Thomas, didn't we have to go check on your squeaky wheel?" Marion gulped. However, to her surprise, Thomas chuckled.

"No, Annie, I'm feeling much better now. Merry Christmas and thank you, Marion!" Thomas blew his whistle and headed on his way, leaving the Steamworks behind. The steam shovel grinned.

"Merry Christmas, Thomas! Anytime!" As soon as Thomas was out of sight, Marion darted towards the Steamworks.

* * *

Marion rolled into the Steamworks, where she could see Glynn waiting on the turntable. Steam flowed from his funnel, and the old "Coffee Pot" looked thrilled.

"Hello, Marion! You kept everyone so distracted that they were able to finish me today; it feels so good to have steam in my boiler again, thank you so much!" Marion grinned.

"You're welcome, Glynn!" However, the Earl walked out from behind Glynn, looking rather nervous.

"Thank you for your help today, Marion, but I think I failed to account for getting Glynn to the castle! There's no way we can take him there without anyone seeing him; the surprise will be ruined!" However, Marion had scooped up an idea in her shovel, and grinned at the Earl.

"Well, sir, I may have an idea…"

* * *

" _Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful! And since we've no place to go...let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!_ " As Marion carolled to the engines inside each shed along the route, Sir Robert quietly drove Glynn through the sidings to head along the main line unnoticed; not that anyone was looking with Marion's holiday singing!

" _I really can't stay...baby, it's cold outside!_ " She kept everyone so well distracted that no one noticed the "Coffee Pot" puffing along the whole way to the castle.

" _It's the most wonderful time of the year!_ " Marion held her final loud note long enough for Glynn to slip onto the junction up to Ulfstead undetected. As she finished, the engines at Wellsworth Sheds cheered for her singing, causing Marion to grin and give a knowing glance to the "Coffee Pot" disappearing into the distance.

* * *

Finally, it was time for the Earl's Christmas party. Marion bustled into the castle excitedly, where she saw engines of all shapes and sizes chatting. She parked herself between Stephen and Millie on one side and Trevor on the other.

"Merry Christmas, Marion! Welcome to the party!" Millie greeted.

"The Earl's about to make a speech; apparently he has a surprise of some kind!" Stephen mused. Marion grinned and gave a wink to Trevor, who simply looked confused. Suddenly, the Earl went onto his podium and turned on the microphone. The crowd turned to listen, and the Fat Controller put down the turkey leg he was eating. He heard a clearing throat nearby, and sheepishly wiped his face with a napkin as Dowager Hatt gave him a disapproving look. The Earl began his speech.

"Welcome, one and all, to my Christmas party! I would like to thank you all for being here, and especially thank Sir Topham Hatt! Seeing as his railway has provided me with so much help in maintaining my estate and building my new projects, I only saw it fit to give him a special Christmas surprise for the unveiling of my new one!" The Fat Controller looked rather confused, but was stunned when he heard a whistle he hadn't heard in years.

"It can't be…"

"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce you all to...Glynn, the Coffee Pot engine!" The Fat Controller was practically in tears when he saw his first engine roll out of the sheds, covered in Christmas lights and with an enormous grin on his face.

"Hello again, Mr. Hatt!"

"Glynn! You're back!" He approached the Earl and shook his hand furiously before pulling him into a hug, which the Earl happily returned.

"Thank you, Sir Robert! This is one of the most wonderful Christmas surprises I've ever received! How on earth did you manage to hide this from me?" Glynn grinned at Marion.

"You can thank Marion for that, sir; she kept everyone so in the Christmas spirit that no one bothered looking around the Steamworks!" The Fat Controller laughed as the steam shovel blushed.

"Well, thank you, Marion! Three cheers for Glynn, and three cheers for Marion!"

"Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray!" The crowd cheered...except Stephen.

"He's just a ' _Coffee Pot'_..." He muttered, but no one noticed. Everyone was happy about the Christmas surprise, especially Marion, who was the happiest of all.

" _Rockin' around the Christmas tree_

 _Have a happy holiday_

 _Everyone dancin' merrily_

 _In the new old-fashioned way!_ " She sang, beginning to lead everyone in her favorite Christmas carols.

 **THE END**

* * *

And _this_ is how Glynn ended up at Ulfstead in my series. I've always found the original _Christmas Coffeepot_ to be a tad scattered, even though it's working with some very good ideas; the one I decided to run with is the involvement of Marion, and I'm very happy I went with this choice. The pacing is snappier than my writing normally is, and this is because I was going for a real Season 20 feel with this episode; up to you all on whether or not I succeeded! I also wanted to involve staple characters of the cast who didn't speak in Season 20, and this is where the scenes with Skarloey, Rusty, Mavis, and Bertie came from (as none of them spoke in the original Season 20 and now they do). I wanted to give Glynn's return more emotional weight, and thus I made it specifically a surprise for the Fat Controller as well as being a part of the Earl's railway museum, which would've been revealed in the following episode, _Over the Hill,_ since this takes _The Christmas Coffeepot'_ s place in my canon. Thank you all so much for reading _The Rails to Redemption,_ leave a review if you enjoyed! See you all again soon in Season 21 Redux _'_ s premiere: _A Most Singular Engine_.


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